LUGANSK, August 21. /TASS/. The Ukrainian military command has begun to hastily pull back troops from near the Viyemka railway station in the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) liberated by Russian forces, fearing the encirclement of its combat group in the Seversk area, military expert Andrey Marochko told TASS on Wednesday.

"In the Seversk direction, the military command of Ukrainian armed formations is trying to avoid the encirclement of its units. After our forces advanced successfully in the area of Ivano-Daryevka and the Viyemka railway station, the Ukrainian military command has begun to hastily pull back its troops in the north-western direction," the military expert said, referring to his sources.

Ukraine’s military command has also deployed additional artillery units to the community of Zvanovka to provide cover to retreating soldiers, he said.

Simultaneously, the Ukrainian army is delivering fire at forward Russian army units in an attempt to slow the pace of their advance, the military expert said.

Marochko told TASS on August 19 that with the liberation of the Viyemka railway station, Russia’s Battlegroup South units had begun to envelop the Ukrainian army grouping stationed in the west of the Lugansk People’s Republic.