Russia boasts of 'taking' Kupiansk, yet just 100 troops actually there - Defense Forces
Illustrative photo: Russian troops surrounded in Kupiansk (Getty Images)
The Russian authorities continue to claim that Kupiansk in the Kharkiv region is supposedly under Russian control. In reality, however, there are only about 100 Russian servicemen in the city, states Viktor Trehubov, the head of the Communications Department of the Joint Forces Group, during a national telethon live broadcast.
Trehubov was asked how many Russian soldiers are currently trapped in a tight encirclement in Kupiansk.
"Right now, there are about 100 people there, over 100, definitely less than 200. Something like that," he said.
The head of the Communications Department of the Joint Forces Group reminded that 10 days ago, around 40 active enemy radios were recorded in Kupiansk. Usually, one active radio corresponds to several people.
He also added that on November 15, Russian flags were dropped en masse from drones onto the Russian troops in Kupiansk to create a picture for propagandists.
Currently, such propaganda about Kupiansk continues with the aim of exerting pressure and attempting to break the city’s encirclement, but these efforts remain unsuccessful.
Trehubov clarified that in the Kupiansk direction, Russian mercenaries have been recorded whose training levels are generally not very high. Some of these soldiers have already been captured. Russia also uses contract soldiers in the Kupiansk area who underwent about two months of training. They are of average qualification and not professional soldiers.
Fighting in Kupiansk
Russian propaganda and authorities have for several weeks claimed that Kupiansk was "captured." Recently, this blatant fake was repeated by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Meanwhile, representatives of the Defense Forces report that Ukrainian defenders have carried out successful operations within Kupiansk. The enemy is now present only in the northern part of the city.
Notably, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, a Russian general — who reportedly had been reporting to Putin about the capture of Kupiansk — recently "disappeared" in Russia.
