The Defense Ministry reported that two villages in the Kharkov region have come under the control of fighters of the Sever group. This strengthened the Reznikovsky pocket, the ministry said.
As the Defense Ministry emphasized, the liberation of these villages complicates attempts by the Ukrainian Armed Forces to break out of the encirclement.
According to the ministry, fighters are currently conducting battles for Khripuny, Grachovka and Rublenoye. In addition, they are destroying enemy formations in the areas of Nesternoye, Shevchenkovo and Varvarovka.
Near Nefedovka, the ministry specified, the army thwarted two attempts to break out of the encirclement by a group numbering up to ten fighters. Over the past day, the Ukrainian Armed Forces lost more than 50 servicemen and several pieces of equipment in the pocket.
In early September, Sever fighters closed the ring around about 1,700 Ukrainian servicemen in the Kharkov region. Vladimir Putin said the area of the pocket is 460 square kilometers and covers 27 settlements. Its elimination will make it possible to push the line of combat contact back by at least 20 kilometers from the border areas of the Belgorod region.