MOSCOW, August 18. /TASS/. The Russian army is encircling Kupyansk in the Kharkov Region to liberate the city, head of the Kharkov Military-Civil Administration Vitaly Ganchev said.
It's impossible to take it in a frontal attack because of the serious fortifications there, he noted.
"The enemy still occupies the commanding height, so liberation, as they say, head-on, is simply impossible. The right move strategically is for us to encircle the city, which is exactly what we are doing now," Ganchev told TASS.