ROSTOV-ON-DON, June 15. /TASS/. The group of the Ukrainian armed forces in the city of Volchansk, Kharkov region, will soon find itself in a pocket, coordinator of interparliamentary relations with the parliament of the Lugansk People's Republic (LPR), State Duma deputy, Viktor Vodolatsky, told TASS.
"We are fighting, we are liberating this territory meter by meter. I always say and continue to say that the task of our military commanders is to minimize the losses of our military personnel," the lawmaker said.
"Today the troops of the Southern Military District are bypassing Volchansk, and in the near future there will be such a small pocket there."
As the State Duma deputy noted, despite the fact that Volchansk is a small city, it is heavily fortified.
"There are huge concrete barriers and fortified areas. It makes no sense to go head-on, to send our soldiers on assaults. <...> Therefore, in this direction we have slowed down our moves, but only for the purpose of protecting and saving our soldiers," Vodolatsky added.
On June 13, the Russian Defense Ministry reported that units of the Battlegroup North had taken more advantageous positions within 24 hours. The formations of the 57th motorized infantry brigade of the Ukrainian armed forces and the 127th Defense Brigade were defeated in the areas of the settlements of Ternovaya, Volchanskiye Khutora, Tikhoye and Volchansk in the Kharkov region. Eight enemy counterattacks were repelled.