"Non-stop fighting, assaults, evacuations, and you know, I managed it," he told a Reuters reporter visiting his position on Thursday. FALTERING OFFENSIVEIstoryk serves in a rifles battalion of the 67th Mechanised Brigade in the Serebryanskyi forest in the Luhansk region. More dramatic advances are still possible; last year Russian forces swiftly retreated from positions in Kherson region in early November. "We're exhausted, they're exhausted. Additional reporting by Ivan Lyubysh-Kirdey; Writing by Mike Collett-White Editing by Gareth JonesOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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Persons: Alina Smutko, Valery Zaluzhnyi, Zaluzhnyi, Istoryk, Oleksandr Popov, Michael Kofman, Velyka Novosilka, Popov, Ivan Lyubysh, Mike Collett, Gareth Jones Organizations: 67th Mechanised Brigade, Armed Forces, REUTERS, Russian, Reuters, Carnegie Endowment, International, Artillery, Thomson Locations: Ukraine, Kreminna, Luhansk region, West, KREMINNA, pinewood, Russia, Kyiv's, Kyiv, Luhansk, Russia's Belgorod, Azov, Kherson region, Bakhmut, Orikhiv, Velyka, Lyman, North Korea, Zakhid