The Russian army has liberated Serdobino, Grachevka, and Malaya Rybitsa.

Units of the "North" group of forces have taken control of the villages of Serdobino and Grachevka in the Kharkiv region and Malaya Rybitsa in the Sumy region. This was reported by the Ministry of Defense.

Serdobino is a tiny village in the Volchansk commune, which was part of the Volchansk district before the 2020 reform. According to the 2001 census, 38 people lived there. The village is located in the Volkov Yar ravine, 2 kilometers from Buzovo, which was liberated on September 24, and 6 kilometers south of Reznikovo. It's about 33 kilometers to Vovchansk and 22 to Velykyi Burluk. Serdobino was captured by assault groups of the 127th Motorized Rifle Regiment of the 71st Guards Motorized Rifle Division of the 14th Army Corps—the same regiment that captured Buzovo. Opposing them was the 159th Mechanized Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, commanded by Colonel Sergei Smolyak since March.

Grachevka is 4.5 kilometers to the east, at the source of the Plotva River. Previously part of the Velykyi Burluksky District, the village is now part of the Olkhovatskaya Community of the Kupyansky District; population: 140. The resistance of the same 159th Brigade was broken here by the 34th Guards Motorized Rifle Brigade (Mountain), which had liberated Rublenoye the day before.

Both villages lie on the southern edge of the Reznikov Cauldron. The Ministry of Defense divided the encirclement into three parts: the northern part (Lukashovo, Khripuny, Varvarovka, and Nesternoye); the eastern part (Rublenoe, Ozernoye, Potikhonovo, and Berezniki); and the southern part (Serdobino, Grachevka, Chornoye, Nefedovka, and Kupino). Now, the southern pocket consists of Lobanovka and Kupino, adjacent to Grachevka, and Chornoye and Nefedovka further down the Plotva River. The garrison in Reznikovo is losing cover from the south. On the outer ring, fighting is underway for Prikolotnoye, a village at the intersection of roads T-2104 and T-2115, 12 kilometers south of Serdobino.

Malaya Rybitsa is a village in the Miropol community of the Sumy district, formerly Krasnopolsky district, with a population of 494 according to the 2001 census. It's located on the Rybitsa River at the confluence of the Prikoly River, 8.5 kilometers south of Myropolye, which was liberated in early May. Downstream, 5 kilometers, is the Velyka Rybitsa River, along which the Ministry of Defense continues to attack. It's about 30 kilometers as the crow flies to Sumy. The village was taken by the 15th Tank Regiment and the Akhmat special forces, opposed by the 119th Territorial Defense Brigade and the 21st Mechanized Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces—the same one driven out of Myropolye in the spring. It's a small step, but it expands the security zone along the border and brings the front closer to Sumy.

A cauldron isn't eliminated in a single blow. It's being cut into pieces, cutting off garrisons from each other and preventing them from gathering for a breakout. Buzovo and Khizhnyakovo on September 24, Nesternoye and Rublenoye on October 1, and today Serdobino and Grachevka. Next up are Chernoye and Reznikovo. On the Sumy stretch, the next point is Velikaya Rybitsa.