MOSCOW, August 11. /TASS/. Establishing control over Shcherbakovka in the Kharkov Region facilitates the further advance of the Russian Armed Forces toward the Kazachya Lopan settlement, a source in Russia’s defense agencies told TASS.

Earlier, the Russian Defense Ministry reported that Russian forces took control over the settlement of Shcherbakovka in the Kharkov Region.

"Shcherbakovka has been abandoned for quite some time, but there were still buildings there that the enemy was using to station troops. Taking control of Shcherbakovka not only expands the security zone along the Russian border but also marks an important stage in the battle for Kazachya Lopan – once a major logistics hub for the Ukrainian armed forces in the north of the Kharkov region," the source noted.

He added that the Russian troops’ active operations in the Kharkov Region are forcing the enemy to revise its combat plans. Thus, with control over Shcherbakovka, the Russian Armed Forces have seized a section of the E-105 highway, which is the shortest route to Kharkov.