Donetsk, Mar 2 – DAN. The DPR Head Denis Pushilin has paid a visit to the liberated township of Shirokino on the Azov sea shore, 15 km away from Mariupol.

"This township, it was agreed to be a demilitarized zone without any units. We withdrew, fulfilled our obligations, but Ukraine, on the contrary, entered (Shirokino) and made it one of the most fortified locations, used to shell our towns. Now, Shirokino is the DPR, no one doubts it," Pushilin said.

He also awarded liberators of Shirokino and laid flowers to the monument of soldiers who lost their lives in the Great Patriotic War.

Russia started a special military operation to denazify and demilitarize Ukraine on February 24. Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the decision was made after the DPR and LPR Heads addressed him asking for help.

The Russian leader said that Moscow is not planning to occupy Ukrainian territory, the only goal is to protect people who have been continuously shelled and subjected to other forms of genocide by Ukraine for eight years. *ot