LUGANSK, November 6. /TASS/. Russian forces have stepped up their pressure on Ukrainian army positions in the Kupyansk area in the Kharkov Region over the past three days and increased the number of daily attacks to 20, military expert Andrey Marochko told TASS on Wednesday.

"According to enemy reports, our troops do not ease pressure on Ukrainian positions in the outskirts of Kupyansk. In particular, daily attacks by Russian forces on Ukrainian positions have tended to grow to at least 20 over the past three days," Marochko said.

The most active operations are observed near the settlements of Petropavlovka, Kucherovka, Peschanoye, Lozovaya, Kruglyakovka, Kondrashovka, Kolesnikovka and their outskirts, he said.

Head of the Kharkov Region Military-Civilian Administration Vitaly Ganchev told TASS earlier that Russian troops had liberated two communities in the Kupyansk district of the Kharkov Region over the past week alone.

Russian troops are gradually expanding the area under their control along the bank of the Oskol River in the Kupyansk direction, which gives them an opportunity to cut off the Ukrainian army’s supply routes. The predominance of Russian forces at the frontline enables them to develop an offensive both towards the settlement of Borovaya and the settlement of Kupyansk-Uzlovoi.