UKRAINE, KHARKIV OBLAST, Jun 18 — Over the past few days, two units that operate in Kharkiv Oblast have discussed the situation in Dvorichna on the Kupiansk axis. They both noted that Russian troops don’t have full control over the settlement, but they are present there with small assault groups.

On June 17, Bohdan Petrenko, the head of communications for the 48th artillery brigade, told Radio Khartia that Russians planned to create a strongpoint in Dvorichna, but it was difficult for them because of attacks by Ukrainian forces.

“Russians still gather up their forces (there) and are ready to lose a lot of people to make any progress,” said Petrenko.

He noted that Dvorichna turned into a “kill-zone” for Russian troops, a territory of Kharkiv Oblast where Ukrainian forces conduct the biggest attacks against them.

Petrenko also said Russia tried to create a bridgehead for the offensive north of Kupiansk.

“It is impossible to talk about the critical amount of Russian personnel or equipment to create a threat to Kupiansk. Ukrainian forces are constantly monitoring actvity of (their) small assault groups,” reported Petrenko.

At the same time, Vitalii Markiv, the officer of the 1st operation battalion of the “Bureviy” unit, said on Armiia TV that Russia increased its attacks on Ukrainian forces’ logistics near Dvorichna but they don’t have full control of the settlement. 

Markiv added that Russia wants to seize Dvorichna fully to gain a foothold for advancement towards Kupiansk from the northeast. 

On June 13, Pavlo Shamshyn, a spokesperson of Operational Tactical Group “Kharkiv,” also denied Russian occupation of the Dvorichna after the report of the analytical OSINT project DeepState. 

Over the past day,  the General Staff reported about three assaults north of Kharkiv and one assault on the Kupiansk axis.

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