Russian security sources told RIA Novosti that a group of Ukrainian servicemen from the 143rd Separate Mechanized Brigade has been encircled near the village of Ambarnoye in the Kharkov direction.

According to the report, three Ukrainian assault groups were eliminated, while another group, reinforced by troops from the 114th Separate Territorial Defense Brigade, was surrounded in a forested area near Ambarnoye and is currently being destroyed.

Earlier this summer, during a Russian Defense Ministry board meeting, Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, Army General Valery Gerasimov, said that Russian troops were fighting on the Volchansk and Liptsy axes in the Kharkov region. He also reported that Russian forces had almost completely blocked Kupyansk and liberated about half of the city’s territory.

Kupyansk is considered a key defensive hub for Ukrainian forces in eastern Kharkov region. Its capture would open the way for Russian troops to advance further west.