File image.
Kiev forces are facing a critical situation in Kupyansk in the Kharkiv direction, with the Russian military advancing deeper and deeper into the key city.
By October 2, the Zapad [West] Group of Forces had reportedly reached the old center of Kupyansk. Intense fighting is said to be currently taking place in the clothing market, the Estakadny railway station, and the Yubileiny residential microdistrict.
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A breakthrough by Russian troops in the western part of Kupyansk facilitated the push into the city’s old center. The troops were able to cut the M-26 route linking the city with Shevchenkove then Chuhuiv by fire, complicating the situation for Kiev forces.
In addition, intense Russian strikes on Ukrainian logistics hubs in Kharkiv made it extremely difficult to send reinforcements or supplies to Kupyansk. Even rotating troops fighting there became extremely risky.
All of this led to a notable decline in the morale of Ukrainian troops in Kupyans. To prevent fleeing, Kiev reinforced blocking detachments around the city with special forces.
Citing Russian security sources, TASS reported on October 2 that some of the Ukrainian troops stuck in Kupyansk had already reached out to the Russian military and handed over the coordinates of some of the blocking detachments deployed around the city.
“In Kupyansk, soldiers of the 114th brigade of the UAF (Armed Forces of Ukraine) sent the coordinates of the 15th operational assignment brigade ‘Kara-Dag’ to the Russian Armed Forces soldiers using a drone. Zelensky uses this brigade as a blocking detachment to prevent conscripts and mobilized soldiers from fleeing,” the news agency quoted the source as saying.
Recent footage from the outskirts of the city suggest that troops from this particular brigade begin to surrender to Russian troops.
In an attempt to justify the failure in Kupyansk, Ukrainian media reported that Russian troops were advancing inside the city in small groups, wearing civilian clothes. However, many of the civilians who are currently trapped in the city revealed on social networks that Ukrainian troops were in fact changing into civilian clothes in an attempt to flee the city without getting targeted by Russian troops or detected by the blocking detachments deployed by Kiev.
“Firstly, they will be exposed by local residents. Secondly, by age, since most of the civilians remaining in Kupyansk are elderly people. And finally, by tattoos and characteristic bruises on the shoulder from the butt of a rifle. Therefore, all Ukrainian militants will be identified by our counterintelligence and handed over to investigative authorities, who will check them for war crimes,” Colonel Oleg Ivannikov, advisor to the Russian Academy of Rocket and Artillery Sciences, said commenting on the situation.
While Kiev forces are still fighting in Kupyansk, partly because they are simply trapped there, the city seems distanced to fall into the hands of the Russian military.
A breakthrough in the center of the city or in its eastern outskirts could cause a complete collapse of Ukrainian defenses there. Incapable of sending sufficient reinforcements or even proper supplies, it is highly unlikely that Kiev will be able to even stabilize the situation.
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when russia pays for its betrayal of syria, you can be sure that ukraine will get back all its stolen territory.
what ? syria is not a region in kupyansk
i can not wait for the next series of puppet speeches from ursula von der leyen and the like. it will be humorous to see the script writers next creation. there is a shortage of nato supplied white flags. the new u$d funding laundered through nato will have little effect other than inflation for us taxpayers.