KHARKIV OBLAST, UKRAINE, March 7 – Russian forces recently advanced northeast of Kupiansk amid continued positional fighting along the Kupiansk-Svatove-Kreminna line on March 6, the American Institute for the Study of War (ISW) reported.

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.

Geolocated footage published on March 5 shows that Russian infantry recently advanced on the northern outskirts of Synkivka.

ISW, quoting Russian sources, says that Russian forces advanced several hundred meters in depth near Terny (west of Kreminna) and seized several unspecified Ukrainian strong points. However, ISW has not observed confirmation of this claim.

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

Positional fighting continued in the areas of:

  • northeast of Kupiansk near Synkivka;
  • northwest of Svatove near Tabaivka;
  • west of Kreminna near Yampolivka and Terny;
  • south of Kreminna near Bilohorivka (12km south of Kreminna) and Verkhnokamianske.

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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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.