Ukrainian servicemen from the 4th Border Guard Detachment have reportedly been disappearing in large numbers in the Kharkiv region. According to representatives of Russian security agencies cited by RIA Novosti, the missing border guards were deployed in the area of what Russian sources describe as the forming Vovchansk pocket.

The agency’s source said relatives of Ukrainian servicemen have reported losing contact with border guards operating near Aniskino, Vodiane and Artelne. The servicemen reportedly stopped communicating in mid-July, and no information about their whereabouts has emerged since then.

Russian security agencies claim that all of these settlements are located within the territory they describe as the forming Vovchansk pocket.

Fighting in this sector is being conducted by Russia’s Sever Group of Forces. Vladimir Putin previously said that the Russian military was successfully carrying out its task of establishing a security buffer zone along the border in the Kharkiv region.

According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, Ukrainian forces lost up to 245 servicemen in the Sever Group’s area of responsibility over the past 24 hours. Russia also reported the destruction of three armored combat vehicles, 14 vehicles and one field artillery gun.