Russian forces have taken control of four more settlements, including three villages in the Kharkov region and one in the Donetsk People’s Republic, according to the Russian Defense Ministry.

In the Kharkov region, units of the Sever Group of Forces captured Vasilyevka, Blagodatnoye and Dolzhanka.

Vasilyevka and Blagodatnoye lie close to each other in the Volchansk district along the Plotva River. Before the fighting began, their populations stood at about 480 and 170 people respectively. Both villages border Ivanovka, which the Russian Defense Ministry reported as liberated on August 8.

The advance in this area involved assault units of the 126th Motorized Rifle Regiment of the 71st Guards Motorized Rifle Division.

Dolzhanka is located in the Kupyansk district next to Sliznevo and around five kilometers west of Vodyanoye. The Russian Defense Ministry announced that Vodyanoye had come under Russian control on August 12. Before the conflict, Dolzhanka had a population of roughly 190 people, while about 10 lived in Sliznevo.

Troops from the 18th and 69th Motorized Rifle Divisions, as well as the 344th Motorized Rifle Regiment, operated in this sector.

War correspondent Alexander Kots said the latest gains had brought Russian forces much closer to encircling a large Ukrainian grouping in the northeastern part of the Kharkov region.

According to Kots, the Sever Group of Forces has nearly closed a large pocket that could trap around 15 Kiev-controlled settlements and up to 2,000 Ukrainian troops. He said only about seven kilometers separate Blagodatnoye from Dolzhanka, while control of Chernoye and Nefedovka, located between them, would be required to complete the encirclement.

Kots added that once this pocket is eliminated, the Sever Group could free up forces for an advance toward Prikolotnoye and Veliky Burluk. Both settlements are important logistics hubs for Ukrainian forces, including units operating in the Kupyansk sector.

On the Donetsk front, units of the Yug Group of Forces captured Izhevka.

The village lies about three kilometers northwest of Molocharka, which the Russian Defense Ministry reported as liberated on June 8, and roughly three kilometers east of Alekseyevo-Druzhkovka. Before the fighting, Izhevka had a population of about 60 people.

Russian troops are also advancing toward Alekseyevo-Druzhkovka from the south, moving from Konstantinovka along the N20 highway. Kots said that reaching the outskirts of Druzhkovka would require Russian forces to take Alekseyevo-Druzhkovka, Osykovo and Kondratovka.

He argued that capturing Druzhkovka would open the way for further Russian advances toward the Kramatorsk-Slavyansk agglomeration. Units of the Tsentr Group of Forces are also pushing toward the area from the west.