Russian forces have entered deep into the Ukrainian city of Kupyansk and are heading south to seize several railway stations, a Russian commander on the ground said, quoted by "Reuters".
The commander, who introduced himself by his call sign "Hunter" as the commander of the assault detachment of the 1486th Motorized Rifle Regiment of Russia, said his forces had taken control of an oil depot on the eastern edge of Kupyansk.
In a video statement released by the Defense Ministry, he said his forces had also taken control of several railway stations on the railway line to Kupyansk Vazlov, a village about 6 km south of the center of Kupyansk itself.
Russian forces are also trying to clear the railway station in the nearby village of Kupyansk-Sortuvalen, he added.
Russia is using a pincer movement to try to encircle the Ukrainian towns of Pokrovsk in Donetsk region and Kupyansk in Kharkiv region, although Ukraine said yesterday that it had delivered supplies to Mirnograd, east of Pokrovsk.
Russian military bloggers today published unverified video purported to show Russian forces entering Pokrovsk on a road shrouded in fog.
Russian forces on motorcycles and in a strange mix of cars and other vehicles, many without doors or windows, were shown moving along a road strewn with debris as soldiers watched. Some Russian soldiers sat on the roof of a battered car. A drone was also spotted along the road.
Ukraine's army chief Oleksandr Syrsky said Russia was concentrating about 150,000 troops in an operation to capture Pokrovsk, with mechanized groups and marine brigades taking part in the offensive.
Syrsky also said Ukrainian forces were using built-up urban areas to limit the advance of Russian troops and were confronting Russian sabotage units.