UKRAINE, KHARKIV OBLAST, Jul 16 — In the Kharkiv direction, there were 18 combat clashes, and in the Kupiansk direction, the Russian army attacked Ukrainian positions five times over the past day, reported the General Staff.

Russia started its new offensive north and northeast in the Kharkiv region in May, but Ukrainian troops have stabilized the frontline in this section since. Now, heavy battles are ongoing in and around Vovchansk (three miles from the border, 46 miles away from Kharkiv) and near Lyptsi (six miles from the border, 12 miles from Kharkiv.)

According to the General Staff, there was combat near Vovchansk and Hlyboke in the Kharkiv direction.

In the Kupiansk direction, the Ukrainian Defense Forces repelled Russian assaults near Petropavlivka in the Kharkiv region and Stelmakhivka in the Luhansk region, reported the General Staff.

According to the report, the Russians also hit Vovchansk, Lyptsi, Veterynarne, Borshchove, Hlyboke, Vesele, Bilyi Kolodiaz in the Kharkiv region with air strikes.

Andrii Demchenko, a spokesman for the State Border Guard Service, said during a telethon on July 12 that the Russian army is most actively building up forces in the Kharkiv direction, where active hostilities are taking place.

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  • In the Lyptsi direction, like in almost all areas of the front, Russian troops create small infantry groups of four to six people and advance mostly in bad weather. The military notes that the Russians learned this from the Ukrainian army.