LUGANSK, September 7. /TASS/. Russia is gradually withdrawing from the Donetsk People's Republic’s Serebryanka and gaining a foothold outside the settlement, knocking out the Ukrainian army from a nearby village of Dronovka, military expert Andrey Marochko told TASS.

"With regard to Serebryanka: our servicemen are gradually leaving the settlement and gaining a foothold in its vicinity. Also, our military continues to knock out the enemy from the Dronovka area, where the main forces and means of the armed formations of Ukraine are now concentrated," he said.

On August 20, Marochko told TASS that the Russian army had forced Ukrainian troops out of the eastern part of Serebryanka, and about 60% of the settlement had come under Russian control.