LUGANSK, August 25. /TASS/. Russian troops are completing mop-up operations in Maliye Shcherbaki, Mirnoye and Nesteryanka near Dolinka in the Zaporozhye Region, which the Russian Defense Ministry said had been liberated the previous day, military expert Andrey Marochko told TASS.

He said the operation is helping Russian forces envelop the Ukrainian group in Orekhov.

"In addition to liberating Dolinka, our servicemen have almost mopped up Malye Shcherbaki, Mirnoye and Nesteryanka, which are located close to Dolinka. Consequently, a vast area has been cleared so that our servicemen can establish a foothold near Novoyakovlyevka and Stepnogorsk for a northward advance. This means enveloping the Ukrainian group in Orekhov from the west," he said.

Marochko earlier told TASS that, after liberating Dolinka, Russian troops were tightening the encirclement around Ukrainian forces in the Orekhov area.

The Russian Defense Ministry reported the liberation of Dolinka in the Zaporozhye Region on August 24.