MOSCOW, April 24. /TASS/. Ukraine is building up troops and military equipment in the settlement of Veliky Burluk in the Kharkov Region near Russia’s bordering Belgorod Region, said Yevgeny Lisnyak, deputy head of the Kharkov Region's civil-military administration.
"Based on the data received from <…> sources, as well as testimonies of local residents, it has been determined that there is a significant increase in the number of personnel of Ukraine’s illegal armed formations within the limits of the settlement of Veliky Burluk, which is located near the border of Belgorod Region. We know that the number of foreign mercenaries that are part of these formations exceeds the number of servicemen of Ukrainian nationality," he said at a news conference.
According to the official, Ukraine is also busy assembling various military equipment, including armored vehicles, ATVs and light buggies, in the settlement.
"The equipment is being deployed with concealment measures - inside single-family households, garages, outbuildings and in areas covered with dense vegetation, making it difficult to detect visually," he said.
According to Lisnyak, some residents of the village return to their homes after they were relocated to the regional capital, but they find them occupied by Ukrainian soldiers.