Day 355: February 13In the northern part of the Luhansk region, Russian sources reported that they are still struggling to establish full control over Dvorichne and Hrianykivka. The Ukrainians here are reportedly leveraging their positions in the forest and are crossing the river to assault the Russians in Dvoriche, which does not allow them to clear the village, and they also continue holding their defense in Hrianykivka. This poses a significant inconvenience for the Russians because, ideally for them, they should have established control over the entire forest and even Synkivka by yesterday. The main Ukrainian stronghold in this region is obviously Kupiansk, and Kupiansk is almost the same size as Bakhmut, so storming it requires substantial resources. This gives the Ukrainians a lot of time to prepare for their next move. In fact, because the Russians have already deployed their troops for their offensive but are forced to delay the main attack, the Ukrainians have figured out the direction of their main attack. Ukrainian Intelligence reported that based on the number of troops deployed in the Belgorod region, and given that with the intensification of the Russian offensive actions, the concentration of forces there increased, it is virtually guaranteed that the Russians will strike from the north. Today, Russian sources reported that the Ukrainians likely figured something out because they are actively building and equipping a defense line between Kupiansk and Sieversky Donets River. This is a very convenient place to defend against a massive attack because it gives the Ukrainians an opportunity to hold defense along the river and force the Russians down the funnel in between the rivers. In this case, there is no need to stretch resources along a vast front line which allows being more flexible with reserves. In the southern part of the Luhansk region, both parties advanced in their main directions. The Russians continue to push from Ploschanka and Novovodiane on Makiivka, and according to some sources, the fights shifted closer to Makiivka and are now taking place near the lakes and ravine. Simultaneously, the Ukrainians pushed the Russians in Ploschanka from the Zhuravka ravine, and now the fights are taking place only 700 meters away from the settlement. The Ukrainians are also maintaining their bridgehead around Chervonopopivka, and even though they are not trying to penetrate Russian positions anymore, staying here causes significant problems for the Russians because it restricts their movement. The Ukrainians here control not only the local heights but also most of the tree belts and forests. When it comes to the Kreminna area, the Russians are assaulting Ukrainian positions in front of Yampolivka and Torske in an attempt to finally reach the Zherebetst river and then expand outwards. This is a necessary condition for the next logical step, which in the case of the Russians, is launching a bigger offensive here. So far, the Russians have not been very successful, and it looks like the weather is going to get worse before they can achieve any reasonable success here. In any case, the Ukrainians are not wasting time and erecting new defenses in this region as well. Many sources indicated that the Ukrainians are heavily fortifying Lyman and establishing additional positions in the forest around it. As you can see, the fights here are very intense, in fact, most of the war footage right now is coming from the southern part of the Luhansk region, so the changes can happen rapidly, and contingencies must be in place.