LUGANSK, September 14. /TASS/. The command of the Ukrainian armed forces has switched a "huge group" of Ukrainian national battalions and foreign mercenaries to Kupyansk in the Kharkov region to hold back the advance of Russian troops in this section of the front, military expert Andrey Marochko told TASS.

"As for the national battalions in the Kupyansk direction, they have brought a huge group there, indeed. The composition also includes foreign legions. In particular, people from Latin American countries are registered there as well as Georgian mercenaries and, let's say, there are some representatives from the Baltic countries and Poland. But in fact, there is now a mixture of units, since the Ukrainian command is acting according to the situation and is trying to plug gaps in the defense with absolutely any units that are removed from other areas to hold back the advance of our servicemen," he said.

The expert specified that the Ukrainian national battalions near Kupyansk "are engaged in their traditional activities", playing the role of a "deterrent" - barrier detachments.

On September 11, Marochko told TASS that the Ukrainian armed forces command was redeploying militants from the Azov nationalist battalion (recognized as a terrorist organization, banned in Russia) to stabilize the front near Kupyansk and the Kremennaya in the People's Republic of Lugansk.