MOSCOW, September 20. /TASS/. Ukrainian forces may be regrouping in the South Donetsk area, Acting Head of the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) Denis Pushilin said.

"The situation is tough in the South Donetsk area. We can see that the enemy carried out raiding operations in the past 24 hours, which did not involve many troops. It seems [the Ukrainian armed forces] have started to regroup," Pushilin told the Soloviev Live TV channel.

According to the acting regional head, Ukrainian forces can be expected to step up their activities near other towns and villages in the area. "We’ll see if it happens near Staromayorskoye, Urozhainoye or Priyutnoye," Pushilin added.

Yan Gagin, an advisor to the DPR acting head, told TASS on September 18 that Ukraine had withdrawn a significant part of its troops from the Novodonetskoye settlement area to the rear. Futile attempts to break through Russian defenses led to huge losses among Ukrainian troops, with the number of servicemen killed in combat in the past week reaching several hundred.

On September 17, Spokesman for Russia’s Battlegroup East Oleg Chekhov told TASS that Russian forces had foiled a Ukrainian attempt to rotate troops near Novodonetskoye.