(VOVworld) – Yuri Biryukov, advisor to Ukraine’s President, posted on his Facebook page Sunday that Ukrainian soldiers were ordered to open heavy fire on opposition forces in Donetsk.

A Ukrainian machine gunner covers his comrades unloading supplies from an armoured vehicle inside the Donetsk airport in October. (Photo: Los Angeles Times)

Biryukov said the Ukrainian Army had taken control of the Donetsk Airport. A previous announcement by the People’s Republic of Donetsk said that government soldiers had withdrawn from the airport.