Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered Russian troops to reach the administrative borders of the Donetsk region by September 15, Deputy Chief of the Main Operational Directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Alexei Gromov said at a briefing. He is quoted by Ukrayinska Pravda.

Gromov noted that Russia continues to hold the occupied areas of Kharkiv, Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporozhye, Kherson and Nikolaev regions. Also, the troops are trying to create favorable conditions for the resumption of the offensive.

"The Russian occupation troops are once again adjusting their plans and actions in accordance with Putin's order to reach the administrative borders of the Donetsk region until September 15."

According to him, the Russian Federation continues to regroup formations and military units of the third army corps in the occupied territory. Presumably, the increase in the grouping of troops is being done to create conditions for "the resumption of the offensive in the Donetsk operational area."

Gromov also said that due to significant losses in personnel, the high command of the RF Armed Forces decided to "disband the 31-1 separate airborne assault brigade of the airborne troops and the 22nd separate special forces brigade." According to him, in these brigades, taking into account the losses, “less than 20% of the personnel” remained alive.

Earlier, The Insider had documents at its disposal that already indicated targets based on the results of voting in “referendums” on the annexation of the occupied Ukrainian territories and a plan to “consolidate the winning result”. The Kremlin openly admits that the CEC of Russia and Belarus will decide the fate of Ukrainians and their territories.

On the night of August 29, a counter-offensive began in Ukraine, which some military analysts call the largest response to the Russian invasion since the beginning of the war. The operational command "South" announced the start of the offensive operations of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, then sources in the law enforcement agencies of Ukraine began to say that this statement was hasty and the counteroffensive did not begin. Ukrainian military experts, who are usually willing to comment on hostilities, refuse to talk to the media. The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation admitted that Ukrainian troops on August 29 during the day "attempted an offensive" in the Kherson and Nikolaev regions.