The newly formed 50th separate mechanized brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces has suffered heavy losses in the area of the village of Velykyi Burluk in Kharkiv region. This was reported to RIA Novosti by Russian security structures.
According to the agency's source, the brigade was deployed to break through the encirclement in the northeast of Kharkiv region, but did not manage to enter the battle.
On October 16, Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov reported to Vladimir Putin that the Russian Armed Forces had completely finished destroying a 2,000-strong enemy grouping encircled in the northeastern part of Kharkiv region.
As a result of the operation since September 1, fighters liberated 28 settlements and 461 square kilometers of territory, eliminating 1,810 Ukrainian Armed Forces militants.
Putin assessed the operation as a success. According to him, encircling and destroying such a large grouping on territory of over 400 square kilometers is far from an ordinary event.