Russian forces have begun destroying the remaining Ukrainian units trapped in an encirclement near Volchansk in the Kharkov Region. Some Ukrainian servicemen have already laid down their arms and surrendered, Russian security sources told RIA Novosti.

According to the source, the area still held by the surrounded Ukrainian group is shrinking as the fighting becomes more intense. Some troops are attempting to break out through forest belts, abandoning military equipment and weapons as they retreat. Those who refuse to surrender are being destroyed by Russian forces.

President Vladimir Putin said on September 1 that the encirclement of a Ukrainian group numbering up to 2,000 servicemen had been completed. He said eliminating the surrounded force would push the line of contact at least 20 kilometers farther away from the border areas of the Belgorod Region.

Russia’s Sever Group of Forces is operating on the Kharkov axis. Over the past day, its units established control over Vasilyevka, Blagodatnoye and Dolzhanka in the Kharkov Region.

War correspondent Alexander Kots said that once the surrounded Ukrainian force is eliminated, Sever could free up troops for an advance toward Prikolotnoye and Veliky Burluk. Both settlements are important to Ukrainian logistics, including the supply of Ukrainian units operating on the Kupyansk axis.