Russian forces appear pushed out of Kupyansk region by Ukraine

Russian forces appear close to being pushed out of northeastern Ukraine’s Kupyansk city, according to one report, leaving only a small number of isolated troops, and even pro-Kremlin voices acknowledge the setback.

The Kyiv Post reported Thursday that Ukrainian military officials said Russian troops left inside the city were cut off from reliable supply lines and were increasingly surrendering as their position deteriorated.

Russian forces in Kupyansk now number only a few dozen and include foreign mercenaries fighting alongside Moscow troops, said Viktor Trehubov, communications chief of the Ukrainian Joint Forces group.

“They are surrendering,” Trehubov said in a televised briefing by Ukrainian state media. “There were cases when even foreigners surrendered themselves to foreign mercenaries for the Russians.”

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According to Ukrainian officials, the remaining Russian units are largely surviving on limited airlift; This is a tactic that cannot sustain long-term operations within the city.

“Supply from the air bridge alone is not something that will allow them to last long,” Trehubov said. he said.

While Russian forces continue to launch numerous attacks every day in the Kupyansk axis, Ukrainian officials say that these attacks lack the manpower and reserves to change the balance in the field.

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A Ukrainian army chaplain speaks with Ukrainian soldiers in a bunker toward Kupiansk, Kharkiv Oblast, Ukraine, March 13, 2024. (Diego Herrera Carcedo/Anadolu via Getty Images)

“At this stage, they do not have additional capabilities that would somehow correct the situation,” Trehubov said.

The Kyiv Post also reported that Russian military bloggers and war correspondents had begun to publicly acknowledge that Kupyansk was no longer under Russian control, marking a notable shift in Kremlin-aligned messaging.

“A wave of messages appeared saying that Kupyansk was gone,” Trehubov said. “Even Russian propagandists have moved to the line of acknowledging that the city is no longer under their control.”

Ukrainian officials have emphasized that Russia was never able to fully re-establish control of Kupyansk after its liberation in September 2022, apart from a brief occupation in the early stages of the invasion.

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Ukrainian service members of the 44th artillery brigade fire a 2s22 Bohdana self-propelled howitzer toward front-line Russian positions in the Zaporizhzhia region, Ukraine, Aug. 20, 2025. (Danylo Antoniuk/AP Photo)

“In reality, except for a brief period in 2022, it has never been completely taken over by them for the purpose of ‘disappearing,'” Trehubov said. he said.

Ukrainian officials said that efforts by Russian units to penetrate the northern areas of the city were unsuccessful and that these forces were unable to withdraw or receive reinforcements.

“They themselves now admit that the defense of the city by the same units that entered the northern areas and tried to secure the positions was unsuccessful,” Trehubov said. he said.

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Ukrainian soldiers from the 115th Brigade Mortar Unit conduct mortar training as members of the Anti-UAV unit test an FPV drone inhibitor in Lyman, Ukraine. (Jose Colon/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Although Ukrainian forces maintain control of Kupyansk, fighting continues outside the city, especially along the Oskil River.

Ukrainian General Staff said that Russian troops launched five attacks in the Kupyansk region on December 24, all of which were repelled near Petropavlivka, Pishchane, Zahryzove and Kupyansk.

Trehubov said Ukraine’s recent counteroffensive further disrupted Russia’s efforts to stabilize the front.

“The counterattack came as a surprise to the enemy,” he said. “They currently lack the resources to regain control.”

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Kupyansk, a major railway and road hub in the Kharkiv region with a pre-war population of about 27,000, has long been the focus of Russian territorial claims.

The city was briefly occupied in the first months of Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022 and was later liberated by Ukrainian forces later that year. Ukrainian officials say it is a history that Moscow has repeatedly tried to conceal through disinformation.