LUGANSK, August 19. /TASS/. Russian troops are actively advancing near Kupyansk in the Kharkov Region and have started battles for neighboring Sobolevka, military expert Andrey Marochko told TASS on Tuesday.

"In the area of Kupyansk, we have certain successes. Now our troops are conducting active combat operations near Sobolevka. They are also pushing for Blagodatovka where there is the N-26 highway that is used to supply the Ukrainian battlegroup," the military expert said during a live broadcast on the Komsomolskaya Pravda radio station whose record he posted on the VKontakte social media platform.

The enemy still has supply routes near the settlement of Kovsharovka. However, the road used for supplying the Ukrainian battlegroup in that frontline sector is under the Russian army’s gunfire control, he added.

"So, the situation is quite tense for Ukrainian militants near Kupyansk," Marochko said.

Head of the Kharkov Region Military-Civilian Administration Vitaly Ganchev told TASS on August 18 that Russian troops were encircling Kupyansk to liberate it. The town cannot be taken in a frontal attack due to the enemy’s serious fortifications there, he explained.