Since the beginning of the Russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) has been studying the hostilities in Ukraine. The latest reports document the aggressor state’s army offensive between Kharkiv and Luhansk regions.

Russia’s primary efforts are still aimed at capturing the rest of Luhansk region and advancing to the eastern part of Kharkiv and northern part of Donetsk regions.

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

On September 30, Russian forces engaged in offensive actions near Kupyansk and Kremmina, yet there were no confirmed reports of advancements.

It was earlier claimed about the battles near Synkivka (9 kilometers northeast of Kupyansk) and in the Serebryanske forest area (11 kilometers south of Kreminna).

Ukrainian Eastern Group of Forces spokesperson, Captain Ilya Yevlash, reported that Russian forces had resumed assault operations in the Kupyansk and Lyman directions, making two unsuccessful attempts to breach unspecified Ukrainian defenses in the past 24 hours.

Footage released on September 30 purportedly showed elements of the “Moscow” Volunteer Battalion assaulting and capturing a Ukrainian position near Kreminna.

ISW has previously assessed that Russian offensive operations on the Kupyansk-Svatove-Kreminna line were aimed at entrenching Ukrainian forces there and withdrawing them from more critical areas of the frontline.

GWARA’S CHOICE

The Russian army renewed their offensive on the Lyman-Kupiansk axis. The Defence forces are repelling the adversary’s attacks and hitting Russians’ ammunition depots and fuel storages. A spokesman for Ukraine’s Eastern Group of Forces, Ilya Yevlash, reported on it during a national telemarathon on September 30.

“Meat assaults” have stopped: Russian army changed tactics in the Kupiansk direction. While Russians kept up their offensive on the Kupiansk axis, their troops changed tactics and stopped the “meat assaults.” Now, they’re actively hitting Ukrainian positions with artillery and aviation. Illia Yevlash, a spokesman for OC East of the AFU, discussed this in the ether of the national telethon on September 15. 

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 aviation, MLRS and S-300 systems.