Ukrainian military pushes final phase of Kupiansk operation amid fierce Russian resistance
Illustrative photo: Ukrainian Armed Forces continue clearing operations in Kupiansk (Getty Images)
An active phase of fighting is ongoing in the city of Kupiansk, where encircled Russian units are offering "very fierce" resistance. However, Ukraine’s Defense Forces continue the operation to destroy them, according to Ihor Raikov, head of the unmanned systems service of the National Guard’s 13th Khartiia Brigade.
According to him, the operation to liberate Kupiansk was not a one-time action and began back in September. At that time, Ukrainian forces formed a search-and-strike group that had been consistently implementing a plan to neutralize the enemy. The operation consists of two stages.
“The first stage was cutting off logistics and encircling the enemy inside the city. That part was completed successfully. The second stage is localizing the enemy within the city, carrying out stabilization measures, and directly clearing the city,” he explained.
At present, the logistics of Russian units are carried out exclusively using drones. At the same time, Russian forces continue unsuccessful attempts to break through a land corridor to their surrounded units.
“They even tried to move through the well-known pipeline. The pipeline is under constant fire control and surveillance and has been disabled, so any such attempt by the enemy cannot succeed at this time. This allows us to conduct operations inside the city,” Raikov noted.
Ukrainian operation in Kupiansk
It should be recalled that on December 12, Russian troops were encircled in the Kupiansk area. The command of the Khartiia Corps of the National Guard of Ukraine reported successful counteroffensive actions by Ukraine’s Defense Forces near the city.
Ukrainian units managed to drive Russian forces out of the Yuvileinyi residential district. During the fighting, the Russian side suffered significant losses — more than a thousand troops killed alone. In addition, Ukrainian defenders destroyed a gas pipeline that Russian units had been using to secretly infiltrate Kupiansk, completely cutting off this route.
Amid these developments, on December 12, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited the Kupiansk front.
