MOSCOW, August 23. /TASS/. Assault units of Russia’s Battlegroup West have taken over a stronghold and two observation posts of Ukraine’s armed forces in the Kupyansk area, Battlegroup West Spokesman Yaroslav Yakimkin told TASS.
"Assault units from Battlegroup West continue to advance in the vicinity of the Olshana population center in the Kupyansk area. The Russian soldiers have taken over a stronghold and two observation posts," he said.
According to Yakimkin, the Ukrainian army has been trying to prevent Russian forces from gaining ground in that area by launching four counterattack attempts in the vicinity of Petropavlovka, Sinkovka and Olshana in the Kharkov Region. Near Kupyansk, Russian artillery undermined an attempt to use the tactical reserves of the 115th separate mechanized brigade of the Ukrainian army.
He added that "during counterbattery work, Krab, M109 Paladin, M777, 2S3 Akatsiya artillery guns were eliminated as well as a mortar crew, an ammunition supply point and an AN/TPQ-50 counter-battery radar in the vicinity of the villages of Chervony Stav, Sheykovka, Kucherovka, Peschanoye, Krakhmalnoye, Zagoruykovka, Stelmakhovka."