Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Lt. Gen. Igor Konashenkov reported this morning that Russian forces have completed the encirclement of four battalions of Ukrainian troops along with an armed Right Sector formation and a group of foreign mercenaries in and around the communities of Gorskoye and Zolotoye in the Lugansk region. Gorskoye and Zolotoye are both to the south of Lisichansk on the southern side of the salient which is anchored in the east by Severodonetsk.
The Ukrainian battlegroup has been completely sealed off, the general stressed. In all, up to 2,000 Ukrainian troops have been trapped, Konashenkov said, reported TASS. “About 1,800 military personnel, 120 Right Sector Nazis, up to 80 foreign mercenaries and also over 40 combat armored vehicles and around 80 guns and mortars,” he said, adding that 41 Ukrainian soldiers had voluntarily surrendered in that area in the past 24 hours alone.
