The Russian Defense Ministry said on Monday that Russian forces were tightening their grip on Ukrainian troops in Pokrovsk, a transport and logistics hub that Moscow has been trying to capture for more than a year, Reuters reported, citing TASS.
In a statement quoted by TASS, the ministry said Russian forces had cleared 35 buildings of Ukrainian soldiers in Pokrovsk. The document also said Russian forces were also tightening their grip on the town of Kupyansk in Kharkiv region.
Reuters could not confirm the situation on the battlefield. Ukraine rejects claims its troops are surrounded.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Thursday that Russia was massing troops near the eastern Ukrainian town of Dobropilya, where Ukrainian forces advanced earlier this year after a successful counteroffensive, Reuters and Ukrinform reported. Zelensky said the area around the key town of Pokrovsk remained under heavy pressure, with up to 300 Russian servicemen still in the town itself.