Donetsk, Apr 7 - DAN. Russian coalition forces have liberated 160 settlements of the Donetsk People’s Republic as of now; some two dozen of them have passed into the DPR responsibility zone over the past 24 hours, the Territorial Defense Headquarters said on Thursday.

“At present, we control 160 settlements including Novogrigorovka, Pannovka, Suzhenka, Lugovoye, Sadovoye, Fedorovka, Kalchinovka, Nazarovka, Ukrainka, Respublika, Ksenovka, Novoromanovka, Sergeyevka, Starchenkovo, Peremoga, Priazovskoye, Shevchenko, Ilichovskoye, Rybatskoye, Chernovoye and Shirokaya Balka,” it said.

On April 6, 139 settlements were under DPR control. The mopping up operation in Mariupol continues.

Earlier on Thursday, reports said that DRP militiamen had killed 83 Ukrainian gunmen and destroyed nine enemy fire positions over the past 24 hours.

On February 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the beginning of a special military operation in Ukraine. On the same day, the forces of the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics launched a liberation movement in  Donbass.*jk