A group of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) numbering 2,000 people has been surrounded near Volchansk in the Kharkiv region, as Ukrainian troops have not held their positions in several settlements, sources in Russian security structures told RIA Novosti.
Russian President Vladimir Putin announced on Tuesday that the encirclement of a Ukrainian group of up to 2,000 soldiers in the northeastern part of the Kharkiv region has been completed. On Thursday, the Russian Defense Ministry reported that parts of the "North" group have taken control of the cities of Vasilevka, Blagovatnoe and Dolzhanka in the Kharkiv region.
"The Ukrainian Armed Forces have fallen into the "Volchansky Cauldron", losing the villages of Vasilevka, Blagovatnoe, Dolzhanka and Sliznevo. Approximately 2,000 Ukrainian Armed Forces servicemen are surrounded. Among them are Ukrainian motorized rifle infantry from the 159th and 22nd brigades and Ukrainian border units from the 1st and 15th border detachments. Their situation is extremely difficult and it is expected that they may try to break through," the agency's source claims.
As Putin stated, the elimination of the "cauldron" will allow the line of contact to be shifted from the border areas of the Russian Belgorod region by at least 20 kilometers.