LUGANSK, June 20. /TASS/. Ukrainian forces attempted to build a staging ground near Kupyansk but Russian troops delivered a strike that destroyed the enemy’s personnel and equipment, Andrey Marochko, a retired lieutenant-colonel of the People’s Militia of the Lugansk People’s Republic, has told TASS.

"In the Kupyansk area, the enemy tried to attack in the area of Stelmakhovka, Kolomyichikha (villages in the Svatovo District of the LPR - TASS) over the past two-three days, trying to create a staging ground for itself for a further offensive, but its clusters of personnel and equipment was detected and our servicemen inflicted substantial fire damage. So the course of action that the enemy was trying to pursue is now impossible to pursue," he said.