LUGANSK, June 27. /TASS/. The Ukrainian military command is withdrawing its units from forward positions near Kupyansk in the Kharkov Region due to the Russian troop advance, Lugansk People’s Republic (LPR) people’s militia retired Lieutenant-Colonel Andrey Marochko told TASS on Tuesday.

"Due to the successes of our troops northeast of the settlement of Kupyansk and casualties among Ukrainian armed formations southeast of that community, the enemy is pulling back its forces from forward to secondary positions," the LPR officer said.

The Ukrainian military command is trying to reinforce its positions at the second defense line involving territorial defense battalions, Marochko said.

Russian Defense Ministry Spokesman Lieutenant-General Igor Konashenkov reported on Monday that Russian forces had destroyed roughly 30 Ukrainian troops in the Kupyansk direction in the past 24 hours.