Day 299: December 19Today there is a lot of good news.First of all, in the Luhansk region, after breaching the Russian main defense line in the northern area, the front line finally collapsed up to 5 km east and put the Russians in an extremely inconvenient position. Last time I told you that Yahidne was the last Russian good fortification west of the Kobylka River and also that the Ukrainians had started to move towards Volodymyrivka from the north.Today some reports suggest that the Ukrainians have conducted a series of assaults in the direction of Sofiivka. This is an extremely important piece of information because the last supply road to Volodymirivka goes exactly from Sofiivka. So, if the Ukrainians established their positions in this area, then the Russians in Volodymirivka are already in the operational encirclement. The only way they can avoid being taken into a pocket and destroyed is by just crossing the fields, which is something that they will likely do in the near future. And with the whole northern area under Ukrainian control, the Russians in Kuzemivka will run a huge risk of being taken into a pocket as well. So, the gradual collapse of one Russian position after another becomes inevitable, which will very soon open direct access to Svatove from the north.When it comes to the area to the south of Svatove, here, the Ukrainians have had some progress as well. As you remember, the Russians recently conducted a counterattack here, pushing the Ukrainians around 4 km back. The Ukrainians managed to stop the collapse and regained most of the ground in around three days. Today they have finally pushed the front line even beyond what they have achieved previously because Russian sources reported about Ukrainian assaults on Holykove. This is the third settlement located on the Russian Svatove-Kreminna defense line that the Ukrainians finally opened access to. As of now, the contested settlements include Holykove, Chervonopopivka, and Zhytlivka. This is very good because the more settlements are being stormed simultaneously, the less flexible the Russian troops are, as they cannot move them to other regions. Ukrainian General Staff also reported that the fights in Ploschanka and Dibrova are still ongoing. The Russians are holding these key positions very tightly, but if they lose them, the Ukrainians will open direct access to Kreminna and Krasnorichenske, which will immobilize Russian troops even more and increase the chance of a breakthrough in the area of Chervonopopivka and Holykove. These two settlements in particular are located on the Ukrainian side of the river, which makes it much harder for the Russians to defend them.When it comes to the hottest part of the front line – Bakhmut – here, the Ukrainians have conducted a small but successful counterattack. Last time I told you that the Russians maintained control over the garbage dump and did not take any offensive actions. After that, the Russians tried to move a little bit to the north and took control of the small industrial area. Today some sources reported that the Ukrainians launched a counterattack from the residential area to the north and successfully pushed the Russians back to the garbage dump. This is very important information because it confirms the fact that the Ukrainians maintain control over the outer layer of the residential area, unlike some sources may indicate.In Opytne, the Russians conducted extensive artillery preparation. As you remember, yesterday I told you that the Russians suffered high losses here and had to put their offensive actions on hold until the reinforcements arrive. Some sources suggest that the fresh forces might be the marines from the Vukhledar area. In any case, since the Russians started artillery preparation, it means that very soon, they will throw the next batch into this gruesome fight.