MOSCOW, July 29. /TASS/. Russian troops are taking Konstantinovka in the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) in a pincer movement, with heavy fighting taking place outside the city, where the Ukrainian army is fighting a losing battle due to a lack of personnel and leadership, Yan Gagin, a military and political expert from the DPR, told TASS.

"Konstantinovka may be in a pincer grip now, our troops are taking it in a pincer grip. Fighting there is quite serious. At the same time, the enemy is experiencing a huge shortage of personnel, there is no one to protect it. There are no commanders left, there is no leadership left, it is almost impossible to find an officer more senior than the captain - they have all fled," Gagin said.

He noted that the bulk of the fighters in the city is looking for any opportunity to leave the line of engagement.

"The fall of Konstantinovka is only a matter of time, everything is a foregone conclusion there. The Ukrainian military themselves say that it is doomed, and as soon as Konstantinovka is captured, Russian troops will get access to Slavyansk," the expert said.

On Tuesday, CNN, citing a commander in the armed forces units in Konstantinovka, reported that the Ukrainian military is exhausted due to an extreme shortage of personnel on the front line. Reinforcements, according to the serviceman, have not been received for more than eight months, and the supply of positions on the front line is carried out mainly with the help of drones, which are very vulnerable to Russian UAVs.