LUGANSK, October 2. /TASS/. The Russian Armed Forces, having liberated Verbovoye in the Dnepropetrovsk region, began fighting to capture the neighboring Novogrigorovka in the Zaporozhye Region, military expert Andrey Marochko told TASS.

"According to information I have, the active liberation of Novogrigorovka, which is located south of Verbovoye, is underway now," he said.

By advancing toward Novogrigorovka, Russian forces are not only creating a buffer zone, but are also undermining the defense of the Ukrainian army in this section of the front as Kiev "hoped that our army would not engage in active operations here in the near future," and transferred some of its forces and resources to other directions, the expert added. "But when we saw the weakening of certain areas, we naturally took advantage of this situation and moved forward, and very successfully, since our troops are advancing literally every day in this direction in the Dnepropetrovsk region, with the Russian Ministry of Defense reporting the liberation of various settlements," Marochko said.

On October 1, the Russian Ministry of Defense reported that the Battlegroup East liberated the settlement of Verbovoye in the Dnepropetrovsk region.