Day 295: December 15In the Luhansk region, there were a lot of unexpected developments. The Ukrainians seemed to have overstretched themselves by trying to storm too many settlements simultaneously, which created a weak link. The Russians managed to identify the fact that the Ukrainians were short on resources, they launched a counterattack, and in several days managed to push the Ukrainians out of one settlement. However, once the Ukrainians finished their operation near Kyslivka, they conducted a real counterattack and changed the situation dramatically. And here is how.Last time I told you that the Russians in Kuzemivka found themselves in a very bad position because the Ukrainians managed to establish control over two crucial positions that allowed them to storm Kuzemivka virtually with impunity. To understand why it is so, let’s look at the terrain. Given that the Russians control Kuzemivka and Kryvoshyivka, it means that the Russians hold very strong control over the dense tree areas and belts between these two settlements. So, attacking Kuzemivka is only possible from the northwest. However, if we look at the topographic map, we can see that in order to launch this attack, the Ukrainians must control the two high-ground positions: Novoselivske and the forest. As long as the Russians control at least one of these positions, they can counter any attack on Kuzemivka and continue to hold the line.Unfortunately for the Russians, after the fierce forest battle, the Ukrainians managed to establish control over the second position. So, the Russians in Kuzemivka became at a complete tactical disadvantage. That is why the moment the Ukrainians took the forest, the Russians launched a desperate attack on Novoselivske. Attacking Novoselivkse from Kuzemivka is a very difficult job, and none of their previous operations were successful. But this time, they had no other choice, so they continued to push, irrespective of the losses. In a few days, they established a toehold and then gradually pushed the Ukrainians out of this village.The Ukrainians could not reinforce this region adequately because they launched a couple of heavy assaults a bit to the north, so due to the short-term lack of additional resources, the Ukrainians had to step back. The Russians tried to keep up the momentum and even started developing their offensive in the direction of Berestove. In order to make it possible, they shelled Stelmakhivka heavily to fix Ukrainian troops and then assaulted Berestove. This started to become very dangerous because any Russian success in Berestove would completely annihilate Ukrainian success in the forest.Fortunately, the Ukrainians in Berestove had enough forces and also solid defense. The quality of their defense is not surprising because Berestove had been the target of assaults for a very long time until the Ukrainians had taken Novoselivske.These events near Kuzemivka mirrored what was happening to them a little bit to the north. As you remember, the Ukrainians finally established control over the Kyslivka group and even started advancing toward Volodymyrivka. So, the Ukrainians were cutting into the Russian defense to the north, while the Russians were cutting into the Ukrainian defense to the south.However, Russian successes did not last for long. After the Ukrainians finally established control over the Kyslivka group, they relieved some of the troops, which were sent to Berestove, where the Ukrainians immediately launched their counterattack. By leveraging their tactical advantage in the region, the Ukrainians attacked Novoselivske, established partial control with no big hurdles, and then slowly pushed the Russians back to Kuzemivka. As of now, based on the reports of the Ukrainian General Staff, it looks like the Russians are still trying to push and fight back but with no result.