LUGANSK, August 28. /TASS/. Russian forces are steadily working to break through the Ukrainian army’s defenses in the Seversk area, a battalion commander in the 123rd Separate Guards Motorized Rifle Brigade of Russia’s Battlegroup South with the call sign Zolotoy (Golden in English) told TASS.

"Their defenses are built quite well: they occupy advantageous positions that are hard to pass, including heights and terrain folds. Still, we are breaking through. We need to put a bit more pressure in the area, and they will collapse. In fact, we have already reached the edge of their defenses in the Seversk ledge. Once we break through, the enemy will collapse all the way to Slavyansk and Kramatorsk. We need to keep pressing them without slowing down, and we’ll get the job done," Zolotoy said.

He added that the main goal in the area was to reach the town of Seversk. Still, the commander stressed that "the Ukrainian armed forces spent more than just a day, a week or a month building defenses." "We need to do a lot to get close to the enemy, preparing everything, training assault teams, exploring the terrain, finding out where the enemy is, engaging artillery units and FPV-drone operators," Zolotoy noted.

He also said the enemy forces were facing great pressure from Russian troops, which were preventing the Ukrainian army from carrying out maneuvers. "We now know their likely routes and we are working effectively. We burned down a pickup truck just the other day, dropping mine traps from a quadcopter and then destroying the vehicle with artillery fire," he specified.

The commander went on to say that over the course of military operations, his brigade members had learned to counter even the most unpleasant weapons such as unmanned aerial vehicles. They are shot down both with firearms and FPV drones. "FPV drones are very effective: they are capable of hitting enemy troops, other drones, motor vehicles and light armored vehicles. I think this is the future of the army," the battalion commander concluded.