LUGANSK, December 20. /TASS/. The command of the Ukrainian armed forces has sent additional forces and means to the Donetsk People’s Republic’s (DPR) town of Soledar due to the successes of the Russian forces in that direction, Andrey Marochko, an officer with the Lugansk People’s Republic’s (LPR) People’s Militia, told TASS on Tuesday.
According to him, the successes of the Russian troops near Soledar force the Ukrainian command to transfer additional forces and means from other directions, as well as start using reserves. "The liberation of the village of Yakovlevka, which is northeast of Soledar, has seriously alarmed Ukrainian military commanders. A reserve battalion has been sent to the Soledar area to stop the advance of our units and prevent the Ukrainian troops from being taken into a semicircle in the village of Minkovka," he said.
Marochko also pointed out that some Ukrainian assault units involved in Seversk had been "redirected to strike the flank of the advancing [Russian] units".
On Sunday, Russian Defense Ministry Spokesman Lieutenant General Igor Konashenkov reported that the Russian armed forces had taken control of the village of Yakovlevka and started a mop-up of the settlement from the remnants of Ukrainian troops.