MOSCOW, May 5. /TASS/. The Ukrainian armed forces are accumulating personnel, including foreign mercenaries and equipment, in the Kharkov Region, Vitaly Ganchev, the head of the region's Russian military-civilian administration, told TASS on Friday.

"We know about the buildup of manpower and equipment in the Kharkov Region. We have local residents’ eye-witness accounts that mercenaries from other countries prevail there. They are stationed in residential houses and digging trenches in towns and communities. It is noteworthy that these events are taking place in parallel with the forced evacuation of civilians. Obviously, the purpose of this is very far from peacekeeping," he said in response to a related question.

Ganchev added that about 20 communities in the region were currently under the control of the Russian army, and their population was facing numerous problems.

"Our administration regularly delivers humanitarian aid there. Cargoes are collected according to a list of the most urgent needs. We try to solve the problems step by step: we deliver not only consumer goods, but also generators and fuel. We want the people to have everything they need for a normal life. The living conditions there are difficult, indeed," Ganchev said.

On September 10, 2022, the Russian Defense Ministry said that it was regrouping troops stationed in the districts of Balakleya and Izyum in the Kharkov Region in order to step up efforts in Donbass. The military-civilian administration of the region announced evacuation.

As Ganchev reported, the military-civilian administration offices work in the Belgorod, Voronezh and Krasnodar regions and in the Lugansk People’s Republic, helping the evacuees from the Kharkov Region with formalities and employment.