The Sever force grouping continues to apply steady pressure on the enemy’s defenses. During fierce fighting, assault units of the 83rd and 344th motor rifle regiments took the settlement of Chugunovka in the Kharkov region, driving out forces of the AFU’s 1st Separate Territorial Defense Brigade. This was reported by Russia’s Defense Ministry.

It is noted that the fighting was stubborn, but the resistance of Ukrainian units was ultimately suppressed. The text stresses that for the Territorial Defense Forces, which Kiev regularly uses on secondary and border directions, Chugunovka has become another example of the consequences of trying to hold the front line without a full-fledged defensive system.

It is also stated that Chugunovka is not the first border settlement in the Sever grouping’s area of responsibility to be taken in recent days. Thus, the report describes a systematic formation of a so-called «security strip.»

This tactic solves several tasks at once: on the one hand, it pushes the enemy’s fire impact line farther away from Russian territory; on the other, Ukrainian border units lose stability and are forced to operate under constant pressure without the ability to build a coherent defense.