MOSCOW, March 20. /TASS/. The Russian army has thwarted an attempt by Ukrainian forces to attack Russian positions in the area of Kupyansk, the spokesman for the western group of forces, Colonel Sergey Zybinsky, said.

"In the Kupyansk area, the artillery of the army group ‘West’ has thwarted an enemy attempt to attack the positions of our troops in the area of Gryanikovka. The enemy was forced to retreat to previously occupied positions," Zybinsky said.

In the defense sector of the 6th combined-arms army, crews of Giatsint artillery pieces and Akatsiya self-propelled howitzers of mechanized infantry units eliminated three sabotage and reconnaissance groups from Ukraine’s 14th separate mechanized brigade in the areas of Gryanikovka, Olshana and Pershotravnevoye.

"In the defense zone of the 1st Tank Army its units spotted and eliminated a sabotage and reconnaissance group from the 92nd separate mechanized brigade in the area of Stelmakhovka and also disrupted three rotations of Ukrainian forces on the frontline near Kotlyarovka and Stelmakhovka," he noted.

Zybinsky added that the crew of the Verba man-portable anti-aircraft missile system destroyed one Leleka-100 unmanned aerial vehicle.