The Ukrainian military said that Russian President Vladimir Putin's claims that the city of Kupyansk is surrounded by Russian forces are "fantasies", Reuters reported, BTA reported.
Putin reported this information about the northeastern Ukrainian city earlier today.
The Ukrainian Joint Task Force said that Russian troops are in the northern part of the city, but added that the claims of encirclement are false.
"Deep State" – a project to map the battlefield in Ukraine based on publicly available sources – also does not show Kupyansk being surrounded by Russian troops, Reuters notes.
Russian forces are advancing on all fronts in Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced today during his visit to the Central Military Hospital "P. V. Mandryka" in Moscow, where he met with wounded servicemen, Reuters reported.
During his visit, the Russian leader also announced the successful test of the unmanned underwater nuclear supertorpedo "Poseidon". "All Russian forces are advancing in Ukraine. Now we are guaranteeing long-term security", Putin said.
According to him, in Kupyansk and Pokrovsk the enemy is "blocked and surrounded". "The situation in the zone of the special military operation is shaping up favorably for us. "In two places - in the city of Kupyansk and the city of Krasnoarmeysk (Putin uses the old name of Pokrovsk - ed. note) the enemy found itself blocked, surrounded," the Russian leader said, quoted by TASS.