The goal of the aggressor state’s troops in this part of the front is to capture the rest of Luhansk Oblast and move westward into the eastern part of Kharkiv and northern Donetsk oblasts, according to the Institute for War Studies.

Russian troops continued offensive operations in the area of Kupyansk, but did not gain any confirmed successes on August 12. The Ukrainian General Staff reported that Russian troops conducted unsuccessful offensives northeast of Synkivka (9 km northeast of Kupyansk), north of Kyslivka (22 km southwest of Kupyansk) and near Ivanivka (20 km southeast of Kupyansk).

Map of hostilities in Kharkiv, Luhansk and Donetsk regions / Map: ISW

According to Colonel Serhiy Cherevaty, spokesman for Ukraine’s Eastern Military Group, Russian offensive operations in the Kupiansk sector are aimed at diverting the attention of Ukrainian forces from the Bakhmut sector. This confirms a similar earlier assessment by ISW.

ISW reported that the Russian Defense Ministry said that units of the Western Group of Russian troops had improved their tactical positions in unspecified areas in the Kupyansk sector.

At the same time, it was claimed that on August 12, Ukrainian forces launched unsuccessful counterattacks northeast of Kupyansk. The Russian Ministry of Defense claimed that units of the Western Group of Russian troops repelled Ukrainian counterattacks in the area of Pershotravneve (21 km east of Kupyansk), Sinkivka and the Mankivka tract (about 15 km east of Kupyansk).

See also

Kharkiv region may face large-scale forced evacuation. Due to the escalation near the localities of Kupiansk district in Kharkiv region, the population may have to be evacuated.

Constant missile attacks and empty streets: how Kupyansk lives on the front line. This city in Kharkiv Oblast 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. Today, it is constantly under fire from Russian MLRS and S-300 systems.

Russian army plans to break through Ukrainian defense in Kupyansk direction — colonel-general Syrskyi. Intense fighting is taking place, with some villages changing hands several times.