UKRAINE, KHARKIV OBLAST, Dec 16 – On December 15, Russian military bloggers claimed that the Russian army had captured the village of Dvorichna in Kharkiv region, which is located north of Kupiansk. However, analysts at the Institute for the Study of War do not confirm this information.

One of the main goals of the Russian full-scale war is to capture the remainder of occupied Luhansk and Donetsk Oblast; their operations on the Kupiansk-Svatove-Kreminna line are dedicated to that. From this section of the frontline, they also aim to push into Kharkiv Oblast and re-occupy Kupiansk and Kupiansk-Vuzlovyi, important logistics hubs for the region.

Also, on December 15, the Russians claimed that their military was advancing along the right bank of the Oskil River and in the area of Zelenyi Hai in the Velykyi Burluk community. Still, ISW also did not find any confirmation of this information.

General Staff reported that in the Kupiansk direction, the Russian army attempted to storm Ukrainian positions four times. Ukrainian troops repelled the assaults near Zahryzove and Lozova.

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  • In the Kharkiv direction, the Russians have built up enough manpower and equipment to launch a second offensive from the north, said Oleksandr Danylenko, head of the communication for the “Gart” border guard brigade, to Ukrainian outlet Suspilne.