In the last days of August the bulk of the 2nd Panzer Group and the 2nd Army began moving south in a movement that would lead to the Kiev encirclement. Group Akimenko was on the south flank of Bryansk Front west of Rylsk and well out of the direct path; however, the Front commander, Lt. Gen. A. I. Yeryomenko, was under pressure from the "STAVKA" to divert German strength and therefore continued to order effectively suicidal attacks to the west. Yeryomenko's task was further complicated when the 17th Panzer Division captured Glukhov on September 9, shattering the communications between the armies of the Front. The 160th was caught up in this fighting and largely encircled. In the effort to break out the division took heavy casualties and on September 18 General Skugarev was taken prisoner. This officer would remain in German PoW camps for the duration of the war; after the German surrender he was briefly arrested before being released and returning to service up to his retirement in 1947.