The Ukrainian army has denied claims of the alleged militants control over the Donetsk airport.

"The Ukrainian servicemen are controlling the Donetsk airport. There has been relative lull in the area since 8 p.m.," the army operation press center wrote on Facebook.

It said the enemy's Grad rocket launchers shelled the airport weather tower at midnight and then the fire stopped until morning. "Artillery and rocket launchers had been bombarding populated areas close to the airport until 00:30 a.m. and the fire subsided in a later period," the report said.

Prior to this, the militants claimed they had taken the Donetsk airport under control, the Donetsk news agency reported, referring to the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) defense ministry.

"We can state that we have control over the Donetsk airport premises and the surrounding area," the ministry press service said on Friday.

"There are still about a dozen of Ukrainian servicemen in the new terminal but they have stopped to resist," the report said.