The Ukrainian army holds defense in this section of the frontline and isn’t allowing Russians to move forward. 

During the last two weeks, the Russian offensive has intensified on the Kupiansk-Lyman axis. In particular, Russian shelling has increased. The elements of the Russian 6th and 25th Combined Arms Armies (CAA), along with the 1st Guard Tank Army conducted offensive actions with limited success here. The UK’s Ministry of Defence reported on this in their intelligence update on October 18. 

According to them, it’s likely that this activity is a part of the ongoing Russian offensive being conducted on multiple axes in the east of Ukraine.

RGF [Russian Ground Forces, — ed.] has recently built up combat capacity in the Kupiansk-Lyman direction. However, Ukrainian forces retain a significant defensive presence on this axis, and it is highly unlikely RGF will achieve an operational breakthrough there, British intelligence experts concluded. 

The objective of RGF on the Kupiansk-Lyman axis is most likely to advance west to the Oskil River and to create a buffer zone around Luhansk Oblast. 

A spokesman for Ukraine’s Eastern Group of Forces, Ilya Yevlash, said that Russian troops intend to seize advantageous positions on the Kupiansk-Lyman axis by the beginning of the winter, but they can’t move through minefields and fortifications built by Ukrainian defenders. 

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