Russia’s Sever Group of Forces has taken control of three more settlements: Serdobino and Grachevka in the Kharkov Region and Malaya Rybitsa in the Sumy Region, according to the Russian Defense Ministry.

Serdobino lies about two kilometers from Buzovo, which was taken on September 24, and six kilometers south of Reznikovo. The village was captured by assault units of the 127th Motor Rifle Regiment of the 71st Guards Motor Rifle Division, 14th Army Corps. They faced Ukraine’s 159th Mechanized Brigade.

About 4.5 kilometers farther east, units of the 34th Guards Motor Rifle Brigade (Mountain) broke through the defenses of the same Ukrainian formation in Grachevka. The brigade had taken Rublenoye the previous day.

Military correspondent Alexander Kots noted that both villages are located on the southern edge of the Reznikovo pocket. With Serdobino and Grachevka now under Russian control, Lobanovka, Kupino, Chernoye and Nefedovka remain in this sector, while the Ukrainian garrison in Reznikovo is losing its southern cover. Fighting is also continuing for Prikolotnoye on the outer perimeter.

Russian forces also advanced in the Sumy Region, taking Malaya Rybitsa, located 8.5 kilometers south of Miropolye and about 30 kilometers from Sumy. The fighting involved the 15th Tank Regiment and Akhmat special forces against Ukraine’s 119th Territorial Defense Brigade and 21st Mechanized Brigade.

Kots described the advance as a gradual effort to split the surrounded sectors and isolate Ukrainian garrisons from one another. After Buzovo and Khizhnyakovo were taken on September 24 and Nesternoye and Rublenoye on October 1, Russian troops captured Serdobino and Grachevka. He identified Chernoye and Reznikovo as the next directions in the Kharkov sector, and Velikaya Rybitsa in the Sumy Region.