Claims spread by the aggressor state that Russian forces have advanced near the city of Vovchansk in Kharkiv region and captured a number of villages there are false, Ukraine’s 16th Army Corps said.
"Over the past six months, no positions have been lost in the 16th Army Corps’ sector of defense. Ukraine’s Defense Forces have not only stopped enemy advance attempts but have also restored positions near the settlements of Milove and Odradne. The enemy is currently attempting to infiltrate small infantry groups deep into the defensive lines of the 16th Army Corps’ units. Such groups are detected in time and hit with fire," the corps said on Telegram Thursday.
Russian forces lost 154 killed and 124 wounded in the 16th Army Corps’ area of responsibility over the past week alone, according to the statement. One multiple-launch rocket system, four artillery pieces, 17 units of special equipment and 43 vehicles were also destroyed.
Enemy claims of having captured the villages of Vasylivka, Dovzhanka, Blahodatne and Slyznieve, and of "closing the Vovchansk pocket," are part of a disinformation campaign that has been running for three months, the 16th Army Corps said. "Enemy media are creating a backdrop of victory to push uncomfortable questions for the Russian authorities out of the information space and to suppress talk of possible mobilization after the elections… The main thing is to hold sham elections, especially in the border districts of Belgorod region… The claim about the ‘Vovchansk pocket’ will take an honored place in the history of Russian lies alongside ‘control of Kupiansk’ and the ‘liberation of Sviatohirsk,’" the corps said.
Earlier, the OSINT project DeepState reported that Russian forces made gains this week near the villages of Bochkove in the Vovchansk community of Chuhuiv district and Ivashkine in Kupiansk district, east of Vovchansk in Kharkiv region, with a combined 8.14 square kilometers in these areas outside settlements — previously part of the "gray zone" — passing under enemy control. In mid-August, there were also reports of the "gray zone" expanding in some border districts of Kharkiv region, though this occurred outside settlements and did not involve the occupation of any villages.
