Ukrainian Forces Push Back as Russia Claims Full Control of Kupiansk

Ukrainian forces are continuing to defend strategic positions in the northeastern city of Kupiansk, countering Russia’s claims that it has fully regained control of the area. Despite Russian President Vladimir Putin’s recent statements asserting that Kupiansk is “fully in our hands,” Ukrainian Commander Oleksandr Syrskyi dismissed the claims, emphasizing that Ukrainian troops remain active on the ground.

Syrskyi reported that Ukrainian units are carrying out daily defensive, search, and strike operations across the Kupiansk sector to stabilize the situation and disrupt Russian movements. According to him, Ukrainian soldiers are holding key defensive lines and increasing fire pressure to hinder Russian supply routes. He described Moscow’s statements about the city’s capture as “astonishing” in their scale of misinformation. Kupiansk, which Russia initially seized during the early weeks of its 2022 invasion, was recaptured by Ukraine later that year.

Russia’s renewed push in the Kharkiv region comes as its forces advance across several fronts. In Donetsk, the heavily targeted city of Pokrovsk has become another focal point of the conflict. Putin stated that Russian troops now control around 70% of the city, also known by its Soviet name, Krasnoarmeysk. The Russian Defence Ministry added that its forces had taken two districts on the city’s outskirts.

Ukrainian forces, however, report ongoing efforts to repel Russian assaults in both Pokrovsk and nearby Myrnohrad. On Friday, Ukraine’s military said it had resisted 65 Russian attacks aimed at breaching defensive positions in the region.

Further south, in Zaporizhzhia, Russia continues to make incremental gains. Open-source analysis from the Ukrainian military-monitoring blog DeepState indicates that Ukraine is reinforcing a new defensive line near Huliaipole to withstand intensified Russian pressure.

As the conflict evolves, both sides remain entrenched across multiple fronts, with Ukraine determined to maintain control of critical territories amid heightened Russian offensives.