Servicemen of Ukraine’s 72nd Brigade attempted to break out of an encirclement in the Kharkov region but suffered losses, according to an unnamed representative of Russian security agencies cited by the media.

The source said Ukrainian forces continued trying to breach the encirclement. According to him, troops from Russia’s Sever group repelled a counterattack by the Shkval company of the 72nd Separate Mechanized Brigade. He claimed the Ukrainian unit came under combined fire and retreated to its original positions after taking losses.

The same source said troops from Ukraine’s 22nd Separate Mechanized Brigade also tried to escape the encirclement in the Volchansk sector. According to his account, some Ukrainian servicemen were killed or wounded by mines, while others were struck by Russian FPV drones.

The Russian security representative added that confirmed Ukrainian losses in the Kharkov region had exceeded 80 personnel over the previous 24 hours.

The Kharkov sector remains one of the active areas of fighting in the special military operation zone, where units of Russia’s Sever group are operating.

On September 12, the Russian Defense Ministry reported that Russian forces were continuing to tighten the encirclement while simultaneously expanding the outer area under their control.

Russian President Vladimir Putin had previously said that eliminating the surrounded Ukrainian grouping would allow the line of contact to be pushed at least 20 kilometers farther away from the border areas of the Belgorod region.