Ukrainian forces are moving foreign fighters to the Kharkov sector in an effort to stave off the risk of encirclement, according to Russian security agencies.

Officials said mercenaries from the so-called «Foreign Legion» had been redeployed to the area. To plug gaps at the front line, the Ukrainian command is also transferring artillery crews and electronic warfare teams whose equipment had already been destroyed in earlier fighting.

The Russian Ministry of Defense reported that its troops struck units of Ukraine’s mechanized and motorized infantry brigades near the village of Zelenoye and the city of Volchansk over the past day. The strikes, according to Moscow’s data, left more than 150 Ukrainian soldiers killed, along with one tank, four armored vehicles, eight trucks, and four artillery pieces.

A week earlier, Kiev’s command dispatched the 61st Separate Mechanized Brigade to the same direction. Security sources noted that the unit had been rebuilt after its withdrawal from Kurskaya Oblast and is now positioned near the settlements of Khatnee and Ambarnoe. The same brigade, they said, had been among the first to take part in the raid on Kursk, where its fighters were accused of abducting civilians and looting stores.