From Kupiansk in the northern Kharkiv Oblast to Avdiivka in the south, through Bakhmut, Lyman and dozens of towns in between, Russian forces are attacking along a 257-kilometer arc in eastern Ukraine, the New York Times reported on March 13.
In the city of Kupiansk and surrounding villages, Russia has stepped up shelling and probing ground assaults, and Ukraine has ordered civilians to leave.
Russian shelling intensified in Lyman and other towns, as well. According to the Ukrainian military, Russian forces make more than 100 attempts each day to break through their lines.
"Russian gains are minimal, and they come at a frightful cost on both sides," the New York Times writes. Western officials and analysts have estimated at least 200,000 dead or injured on the Russian side.
They do not publicize the Ukrainian losses but suspect they are "also enormous."
