The Defense Ministry of Ukraine admitted in a Facebook post on Saturday it no longer had access to the Sea of Azov, TASS reports.
According to the statement, Ukraine "has been temporarily deprived of access to the Sea of Azov."
Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said back on March 1 the Ukrainian army’s access to the Sea of Azov had been blocked as advancing units of the Donetsk People’s Militia had reached the administrative border of the Donetsk Region to join the Russian forces that earlier established control of Ukraine’s districts on the Sea of Azov.
According to the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, during the Donetsk operation, the Russian side deprived Ukraine of the opportunity to enter the Sea of Azov, and the defense forces on the outskirts of Nikolayev stopped the advance of Russian forces.
It is noted that the Russian side continues its attempts to blockade the cities of Chernigov, Sumy, Kharkov, the attack on Pokrovsky has resumed.
According to Kyiv, Russian forces are trying to gain control of a number of settlements in the direction of Donetsk and Lugansk, and fighting is taking place for some cities.