LUGANSK, December 10. /TASS/. Russian troops, increasing the pace of their advance near Volchansk, have almost completely gained control of Liman and Vilcha in the Kharkov Region, military expert Andrey Marochko told TASS.

According to him, the Russian Armed Forces have recently significantly increased the pace of their advance south of Volchansk.

"In a forested area west of the Liman settlement, our troops are advancing about 250 meters per day. Liman itself has already almost completely come under the control of Russian troops, and most of the Vilcha settlement has also been liberated," he said. The military expert noted that, overall, after securing a foothold on the southeastern outskirts of Volchansk, Russian forces began "actively targeting" Ukrainian armed forces’ strongholds, thus forcing out the enemy and preparing a foothold for further offensive.

It was reported earlier that Russian President Vladimir Putin visited a command post of the Joint Force late on November 30 to hear reports on the liberation of the cities of Krasnoarmeysk in the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) and Volchansk in the Kharkov Region.