North of Bakhmut, another key battle tests Ukraine's defences

FILE PHOTO: A wounded Ukrainian soldier reacts as he is treated by medics inside a frontline stabilisation ambulance, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in an undisclosed location near the frontline town of Kreminna, Ukraine March 13, 2023. REUTERS/Violeta Santos Moura/File Photo

NEAR KREMINNA (Reuters) - From a small, non-descript house in a badly bombed village in eastern Ukraine, Andrii "Tuman", who goes by his call sign meaning "fog", commands his battalion around the clock to hold intensifying Russian attacks at bay.

What Ukrainian forces have long described in the city of Bakhmut is also playing out to the north in Luhansk region - more Russian troops, weapons and aggressive tactics that Moscow hopes will produce a badly needed breakthrough.