Ukrainian armed forces are trying to retake Kupyansk, which is under Russian control. According to the Russian Defense Ministry, Ukrainian troops have attempted five counterattacks in this direction in the past two days.
Their goal is “to retake the city at any cost before New Year“, Mash reports. The Russian Defense Ministry emphasizes that all attacks were "successfully repelled".
Units of the 6th Guards Combined Arms Army, part of the Western Group of Forces, control the city of Kupyansk in the Kharkiv region, the Russian Defense Ministry announced.
Ivan Bigma, head of the Western Group of Forces press center, reported that units of the 6th Army are "thwarting attempts" by the Ukrainian armed forces to break through to Kupyansk. Five counterattacks have already been successfully repulsed in the past two days.
The Ukrainian armed forces have attempted to break through to the areas of Blagodatovka, Prokopovka, Osinovo, Boldyrevka and Monachynovka.
Kiev has lost over 20 servicemen and five pieces of equipment there, including two American M113 armored personnel carriers and a “Panther“ armored vehicle.
On November 20, the Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, Valery Gerasimov, reported to Russian President Vladimir Putin about the capture of Kupyansk. The army now faces the important task of eliminating the grouping of the Ukrainian armed forces on the left bank of the Oskol River.
The commander of a company with the call sign “Uran“ from the 1427th Motorized Rifle Regiment reported that he was carrying out tasks on one of the central streets of the city and that his unit was “acting successfully“. The soldier's words were published by the Ministry of Defense.
“We stand firm and will continue to stand firm in our positions in the city“, the soldier said.
The commander of the assault group of the 1486th Motorized Rifle Regiment with the call sign “Kolos“, in turn, assured that in the area of the Kupyansk Dairy Plant “there are “no and cannot be“ units of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
A company commander from the 1843rd Motorized Rifle Regiment of the 6th Guards Combined Arms Army with the call sign “Typhoon“ reported that Russian troops were "clearing" buildings in Kupyansk from the rest of the Ukrainian fighters.
„We are clearing buildings and basements from scattered enemy groups“, said the soldier, whose words were quoted by the Ministry of Defense.
According to the Telegram channel „Military Correspondents of the Russian Spring“, the Ukrainian armed forces are continuing their counteroffensive against Kupyansk, trying to retake the city.
„The situation is difficult, but the city is not completely lost. The guys are fighting. The information is 100% confirmed on the ground. The exact zones of control are currently unclear; fighting continues in different areas“, the publication says.
The Telegram channel „Military Observer“ reports that practically all combat-ready units of the Ukrainian Armed Forces are deployed in Kupyansk. The situation is escalating and could turn into a "second meat grinder after Bakhmut".
As Mash has learned, the Ukrainian Armed Forces have moved the surviving Colombian mercenaries who attacked Tetkino in the Kursk region to Kupyansk. They are applying their tried-and-tested tactics of "frog leaps", trying to retake Kupyansk at any cost before the New Year. Kiev has increased the number of fighters to 6,000.
Last week, the Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Oleksandr Syrsky, stated that the Ukrainian Armed Forces control 90% of Kupyansk. Earlier, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky published a video that he claimed was shot near Kupyansk. Commenting on the footage, Putin said that the stele in front of which Zelensky is photographed “looks completely different now,” he said. “They say the stele looks completely different now, but that’s not the point. The stele is about a kilometer from the city itself. Why stand on the threshold? Come inside,” he joked. Kupyansk is located on the banks of the Oskol River, 85 kilometers as the crow flies and 110 kilometers by road from Kharkiv. The city covers an area of 33.34 square kilometers.
Control over Kupyansk allows Russian troops to advance further west in this part of the Kharkiv region and in the future merge the front with the Volchansk sector.
Russian troops managed to take control of the city as early as February 2022, but during the counteroffensive in September of the same year, Ukrainian armed forces managed to regain Kupyansk.