First Ukrainian troops break out of rebels' encirclement in Ilovaisk

The first team of the Ukrainian soldiers involved in the military operation in eastern part of the country have broken out of encirclement in Ilovaisk, the Kyiv Post cites Ukraine's Interior Minister Arsen Avakov as saying.

"Out first troops based in Ilovaisk broke out of encirclement ahead of the foothold of the National Guard's brigade in the town of Komsomolske. Altogether there are 28 people from the battalions of the Interior Ministry 'Peacemaker' (14), 'Kherson' (3) and 'Dnipro' (11). It was a good idea to hold the border the whole night! We're waiting for other guys," the Interior Ministry's press service quoted minister Arsen Avakov as saying on Saturday, the Kyiv Post reports.

According to recent reports, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko reached an agreement with the militants to let out encircled Donbas battalion soldiers and other military personnel in Ilovaisk, the press service of the Donbas volunteer battalion reported.

The militants had previously presented forces of Ukraine's Anti-Terror Operation trapped in Ilovaisk with an ultimatum to lay down their arms by 6 am on Saturday morning. If not, the militants threatened to start shelling them with Grad rocket launchers, the Kyiv Post informs.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has previously called on the rebels to allow the Ukrainian troops to go home.