MOSCOW, August 23. /TASS/. The Ukrainian military deployed near the towns of Krasnoarmeisk (Ukrainian name Pokrovsk) in the Ukraine-controlled section of the Donetsk People’s Republic and Kupyansk in the Kharkov region have found themselves in a difficult situation, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said.

A bulletin posted on the Ukrainian General Staff’s Telegram channel says that heavy battles are under way in these two areas.

The Russian Defense Ministry reported on Wednesday that Russia’s Battlegroup Center had liberated the community of Zhelannoye in the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR). On August 15, the head of the military administration of Krasnoarmeysk, Sergey Dobryak, admitted that the Russian Armed Forces had "almost approached" the town and urged residents to evacuate. Dobryak noted that residents needed to leave the city within one or two weeks.

Military expert Andrey Marochko told TASS on Thursday that Russian units have broken through the Ukrainian line of defense near Kupyansk in the Kharkov Region. Prior to that, Col. (Ret.) Oleg Starikov of Ukraine’s Security Council said that Ukrainian troops are facing a tactical crisis in the Kupyansk direction.