LUGANSK, February 26. /TASS/. Russian troops, having liberated Grafskoye in the Kharkov Region, are advancing southeast of the settlement along the eastern bank of the Seversky Donets River, military expert Andrey Marochko told TASS. According to the expert, part of the forest in this area has already come under Russian control.

"Currently, our troops continue to advance along the eastern bank of the Seversky Donets River. There are successes southeast of Grafskoye: several areas in the wooded area have been captured, and a section of the road has been secured and fortified," he said.

Marochko noted that Grafskoye has "extremely difficult terrain," which is affecting the speed of the Russian army’s advance in this area. "Right now, we’re facing the Verkhnyaya Pisarevka settlement, but the most important, in my opinion, is the Rubezhnoye settlement in the Kharkov Region, where militants have established a number of temporary deployment sites. There are also ammunition depots there, and reinforcements are being sent there for this front. This settlement is quite heavily fortified, located right on the western bank of the water barrier (the Seversky Donets River - TASS)," the military expert noted.

Earlier, Marochko told TASS that personnel of the Russian Armed Forces, having liberated Grafskoye, had pushed Ukrainian soldiers back more than 12 kilometers from the state border.

The Russian Defense Ministry announced the liberation of Grafskoye on February 25. "Battlegroup North units established control of the settlement of Grafskoye in the Kharkov Region through active and decisive operations," the ministry said in a statement.