KHARKIV OBLAST, UKRAINE, March 11 – Positional fighting continued northeast of Kupiansk and near Kreminna on March 10, but there were no confirmed changes to the frontline, the American Institute for the Study of War (ISW) reported.

Positional engagements continued northeast of Kupiansk near Synkivka, west of Kreminna near Yampolivka and Terny, and south of Kreminna near Bilohorivka (12km south of Kreminna).

Russia’s key objective in this frontline direction is to completely occupy Luhansk Oblast and advance to the east of Kharkiv and the north of Donetsk Oblast.

Frontline situation around Kupiansk in Kharkiv region / Map: storymaps.arcgis.com

Russian forces conducted another series of drone and missile strikes against Ukraine overnight on March 9-10. Ukrainian officials reported that Russians launched four S-300 missiles at Kharkiv and Donetsk oblasts and 39 Shahed-136/131 drones from occupied Cape Chauda, Crimea and Primorsko-Akhtarsk, Krasnodar Krai.

Ukrainian forces destroyed 35 Shaheds over Kirovohrad, Mykolaiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Cherkasy, Odesa, Kherson, Khmelnytskyi, Vinnytsia, Kyiv, and Zhytomyr regions. Ukrainian state energy operator Ukrenerho reported that the Russian forces struck two electrical substations in southern and central Ukraine but did not disrupt energy supplies.

On February 20, 2024, during a telethon, the head of the Kharkiv Regional Military Administration, Oleh Syniehubov, said that the Russian troops intensified shelling of the border areas of the Kharkiv Oblast and continued to storm the positions of Ukrainian defenders in the Kupiansk direction. They tried to occupy favorable heights and hold Kupiansk as an important logistics hub. However, despite the accumulation of Russian forces, Ukrainians are holding back the pressure and not giving up their positions.

On February 24, 2024, Ukrainian politician Oleksandra Ustynova said in a commentary for the German state radio and TV channel Deutsche Welle that the next target of Russian President Vladimir Putin after the occupation of Avdiivka could be Kupiansk and then Kharkiv. This could happen if Western partners do not increase aid and Ukraine does not receive ammunition, longer-range missiles, and the promised F-16 fighter jets.

Gwara’s choice

Constant missile attacks and deserted streets: how Kupiansk lives on the front line. It is 10-15 km / 6–9 miles from the front line and 40 km / 25 miles from the border with Russia. The city was severely damaged at the beginning of the full-scale invasion and during the battle for its liberation in September 2022.