Positional fighting continued along the Kupiansk-Svatove-Kreminna line on March 30. Still, there were no confirmed changes in this part of the frontline, according to the US Institute for the Study of War.

Russia’s main goal on this section of the front is the complete occupation of Luhansk region and advancement to the east of Kharkiv region and the north of Donetsk region.

The fighting occurred northeast of Kupiansk near Synkivka, west of Kreminna near Terny and 12 km south of Kreminna near Bilohorivka.

Ivan Shevtsov, head of the press service of the Stalevyi Kordon (a unit operating in the Kupiansk sector), said that Russian troops continue to focus on offensive operations in the Lyman sector and have slowed down their offensive operations in the Kupiansk sector in recent weeks.

Battle map of Kharkiv, Luhansk and Donetsk regions / Map: ISW

Shevtsov said that Russian troops are replenishing and rotating unidentified degraded units that took part in offensive operations in the Kupyansk sector before the March 17 presidential elections in Russia.

The spokesman added that Russian troops are aiming to reach the administrative borders of Luhansk region in the Luhansk sector and the eastern bank of the Oskil River in the Kupiansk sector.

Earlier Kharkiv Oblast Military Administration Head Oleh Syniehubov stated that Russian forces have concentrated 100,000 personnel in the Kupiansk and Lyman directions and roughly 40,000 of those Russian personnel are combat personnel. He added that Russian forces are conducting mechanized assaults in the Kupiansk and Lyman directions with MT-LB armored fighting vehicles instead of tanks.

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Russia is recruiting about 30,000 new soldiers into the army every month, “allowing it to cover losses and continue the war against Ukraine,” the British Defense Ministry reports. British intelligence officials say, “Russian troops continued to make gradual advances west of Avdiivka.” The British Ministry of Defense also suggests that “by the end of March 2024, the Russians could have taken control of two villages – Tonenke and Orlivka.”

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.