Battle for Kupjansk Moscow declares frontline city conquered - even its own bloggers disagree
According to Russia, it has captured the strategically important city of Kupyansk in north-eastern Ukraine, which has been heavily contested for weeks. But Ukraine is apparently fighting back successfully, according to Russian military bloggers.
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- The Russian army has reported the capture of the city of Kupyansk in the east of Ukraine's Kharkiv oblast.
- Russian military bloggers, however, deny the capture of the frontline city by Russian troops.
- At the same time, Ukrainian forces are reporting territorial gains in Kupyansk - President Zelensky even appears on the outskirts of the city.
Once again, Moscow declares the Ukrainian city of Kupyansk conquered. Kupyansk is "under the control of the Sixth Russian Army", Leonid Sharov, spokesman for the Sapad group of troops stationed in the area, told the state news agency Tass on Tuesday. "Small groups" of Ukrainian soldiers were trying to advance into Kupyansk "every day", Sharov admitted. However, he emphasized that "all parts of the city are under the control of the Russian armed forces".
The Russian army had already announced the capture of Kupjansk at the end of November. At the same time, Ukrainian forces reported that they had repelled the Kremlin troops and inflicted heavy losses on the attackers.
On Friday, Ukrainian President Zelensky appeared demonstratively on the outskirts of Kupyansk despite the thunder of gunfire. "The Russians have talked a lot about (the capture of the city of) Kupyansk. We see how it is," said the head of state in a video. He stood in a protective vest - but without a helmet - against the backdrop of the destroyed town entrance stele. He thanked the soldiers for their commitment. "Today it is extremely important to achieve results on the front line so that Ukraine can achieve results in diplomacy," he said.
At the same time as Zelenskyi's visit, the Ukrainian army reported the recapture of two villages in the Kharkiv region. The villages of Kindrashivka and Radkivka as well as northern parts of the strategically important city of Kupyansk have been "liberated", the Ukrainian brigade Chartia declared online. A breakthrough to the Oskil River had also interrupted the supply line of the Russian armed forces.
Russian offensive on the defensive
Russian war propagandist Yuri Podolyaka also sees Putin's advancing soldiers near Kupyansk increasingly on the defensive. The situation is deteriorating rapidly, according to the military blogger on Telegram. At the same time, the Ukrainian open source intelligence project DeepStateUA reported on Telegram about an alleged advance by Ukrainian troops near Kupyansk.
The counter-offensive by Ukrainian troops near Kupyansk is supported by the online map service Deepstate. Over the past few days, they have recorded significant territorial gains for the Ukrainian army in the area.
Kupyansk was already under Russian control for almost seven months after the Russian invasion in February 2022. The city, which had around 27,000 inhabitants before the war, has since been largely destroyed.
With agency material.
