Ukraine’s Special Operations Forces (SOF) said they had retaken the settlement of Andriivka-Klevtsove in the Oleksandrivka direction.

Axar.az reports that, according to the SOF Telegram channel, Russian troops had been gradually infiltrating the settlement in small groups and taking up positions.

Operators from the 3rd SOF Regiment, working with one of the SOF psychological operations centers, carried out a coordinated operation to recapture the settlement.

The SOF said 30 Russian servicemen surrendered and were taken prisoner, while those who continued to resist were killed.

“Thirty Russian servicemen were forced to surrender and were taken prisoner. Those who continued to resist were killed. Andriivka-Klevtsove is once again under Ukrainian control. Andriivka-Klevtsove is once again under Ukraine’s control,” the statement said.

Following the operation, Ukrainian special forces performed a traditional local ritual known as the “Expulsion of Vipers,” which is included in Ukraine’s National Inventory of Elements of Intangible Cultural Heritage. The SOF said the ritual was intended to symbolically cleanse the settlement of the “real vipers.”