Russian forces put pressure on Kupiansk - Svatove - Kreminna frontline sections, 120-150 km long - military expert Zgurets

Defense Express information and consulting company CEO Serhiy Zgurets said this on Espreso TV. 

Zgurets noted that the Russian army has concentrated its significant forces in the Lyman-Kupiansk direction, which have recently launched offensive actions to try to drive Ukrainian units out of the Kupiansk area.

"So I think that there are indeed Russian actions. I think they are large-scale in terms of stretching along the frontline, because Kupiansk - Svatove - Kreminna is about 120-150 km, and there are really 3 sections of the front where the enemy is trying to put pressure," the analyst said.

He noted that these areas are Kupiansk, starting from Masiutivka to Verkhnyi Lyman, then the middle zone is Karmazynivka, and then the area between Svatove and Kreminna.

Zgurets noted that the Russian enemy has two tasks: to push the Ukrainian Armed Forces on one side between Svatove and Kreminna to the Zherebets River, and above it to push the Ukrainian military to the Oskil River.

"But again, this theory of the enemy has been practiced for 3-5 months, and there have been no changes. And now, despite the understanding that the enemy is trying to draw our attention and forces to this part of the frontline, I think it was an understandable tactic of the Russians, and the Ukrainian side has enough means and ways to neutralize these attempts by the Russian troops to put pressure on our units and try to push us to these two rivers, which should become new frontiers, according to the enemy," emphasized Serhiy Zgurets.

Russian army's offensive in the Kupiansk area

On July 16, Ukraine's Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar reported that the situation in the east had escalated - the Russian forces had been actively advancing in the Kupiansk direction in the Kharkiv region for two days in a row.

Maliar noted that the Ukrainian Armed Forces are on the defensive in this area, there are fierce battles, and the position of the parties is changing dynamically several times a day.

On July 17, Kharkiv Regional Council member Oleksandr Skoryk said that the Russian army continues to conduct counteroffensives in the Kupiansk sector. According to him, the Russian troops are counterattacking with very powerful forces, so it is difficult for Ukrainian defenders to hold the line. Unfortunately, they are making progress, and this is confirmed by the General Staff. 

Later, the Russian army's launch of an offensive in the Kupiansk sector was confirmed by the commander of the Ukrainian Army, Colonel General Oleksandr Syrskyi. He noted that the enemy has set itself the goal of defeating Ukrainian troops in the Kupiansk area and continuing the offensive deep into our combat formations.

On Telegram, Maliar said that after the failure of the plan to seize Kyiv, the Kremlin ordered its military to reach the administrative borders of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, and after the successful offensive of the Ukrainian Armed Forces on Bakhmut, they panicked. According to her, the Russians moved to the Kupiansk direction to divert attention, as they have done many times before, but in vain.

In its morning report on July 18, the Ukrainian Armed Forces' General Staff noted that the Russian army was attacking in the Kupiansk, Lyman, Bakhmut, Avdiivka and Marinka directions, with 36 combat engagements taking place there over the past day.

According to the General Staff, Ukrainian troops are holding steady in the Kupiansk sector. The enemy conducted unsuccessful offensives west of Lyman Pershyi in the Kharkiv region. 

On Tuesday, July 18, it became known that the Russian army had concentrated its main efforts in the Kupiansk direction and was continuing its offensive, while the Ukrainian Armed Forces were holding the line. The enemy is moving reserves to the Bakhmut direction to stop the advance of the Ukrainian Defense Forces.