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The Lugansk People’s Republic (LPR) intelligence services detected NATO officers in the Kharkov region that has been captured by Ukraine according to information relayed to Sputnik by Lt. Col. Andrei Marochko, an LPR People’s Militia officer.

"Our intelligence agencies have detected the arrival of NATO personnel officers in the Kharkov region. The purpose of their trip to this area is to organize cooperation between foreign and Ukrainian units," Marochko said. 

This comes after Russian sources, on September 11th, revealed to Al Mayadeen that "US generals effectively helped with planning for this operation, and they offered generous intelligence to the Ukrainian army among whose ranks thousands of mercenaries are fighting."

Russia announced on September 10th, that its forces were withdrawing from the Kharkov region that lies on the eastern front after the army had the region under its control for months.

"To achieve the goals of the special military operation to liberate Donbas, a decision was made to regroup Russian troops stationed in the Balakliya and Izyum regions, to bolster efforts along the Donetsk front," the Russian ministry of defense said in a statement.

The withdrawal from Kharkov to Donetsk, Moscow explained, was carried out over the course of a three-day operation conducted to minimize Russian losses. However, the leader of the Donetsk People's Republic, Denis Pushilin, said there was fierce fighting between the Russian and Ukrainian forces in the DPR.

Earlier in August, Central Donetsk has been undergoing some mine clearance works that have been threatening civilians, and since Ukraine has been equipped with NATO’s Tochka-U tactical missile systems and long-range rocket systems, the number of civilian casualties in the DPR has increased by more than two-fold.

Read more: Pentagon says was closely engaged with Kiev ahead of Kharkov offensive