MOSCOW, May 22. /TASS/. The settlement of Liptsy will become a defense outpost for Ukrainian forces in the Kharkov Region, said the head of the region's civil-military administration, Vitaly Ganchev.

"This will now be the main outpost of the Ukrainian armed formations," he said at a news conference. "Full control over this settlement will enable our units to fully exercise fire control over all transportation highways, which will supply the rear areas of all units that are on the borders of Kharkov," he said at a news conference.

According to the official, Russian troops control strategic heights in the Liptsy area, which enables them to keep under fire control the main roads around the settlement.