MOSCOW, June 23. /TASS/. A large number of Western mercenaries have arrived to reinforce Ukrainian troops in the Kupyansk area, Vitaly Ganchev, head of the Russian military-civilian administration in the Kharkov Region, said on Friday.

"In the Kupyansk area <…> local residents are reporting that quite a lot of Western mercenaries have come to reinforce the Ukrainian army. People see that they are not Ukrainians. They hear them speaking Western languages - French, Polish," he said in an interview with the Rossiya-24 television channel.

According to Ganchev, the mood is tense among Ukraine’s mobilized servicemen. Some are reportedly ready to surrender but don’t know how "because of retreat-blocking squads."

"Of course, Ukraine’s army is giving very serious resistance to our troops in the Kupyansk area, but our units have made some progress in recent days. They are seriously pressing the foe on the left bank of the Oskol River in Kupyansk’s eastern part," he said.

According to Ganchev, the situation continues to be tense but "there are some changes for the better." "Trench fighting is underway, which means that the frontline is being held. Ukrainian troops are trying to win a stronghold westwards, closer to the settlement of Shevchenkovo," he said, adding that Ukrainian forces are receiving new Western weapons and "Russian artillery and aviation are demonstrating success in destroying these weapons."

Andrey Marochko, a colonel of the People’s Militia of the Lugansk People’s Republic (LPR) said earlier that Ukraine was deploying reserves to the city of Kupyansk in the Kharkov Region. According to Marochko, convoys of Ukrainian combat vehicles and trucks with personnel were seen moving in the area.