Ukrainian troops enter Kupyansk, previously captured by Russia

Ukrainian armed forces have liberated the city of Kupyansk in the Kharkiv region, which has been occupied by Russian troops since the start of the war, according to Natalya Popova, adviser to the head of the regional council.

“Kupyansk is Ukraine’s! Glory to the UAF [Ukrainian Armed Forces]!” Popova wrote on Facebook, and posted a photo of Ukrainian soldiers in front of an administrative building in Kupyansk. Russian investigative outlet Agentstvo confirmed the geolocation and writes that the Ukrainian soldiers took the photo outside of Kupyansk city hall.

Video of Ukrainian soldiers entering Kupyansk has also appeared. The liberation of the city was further confirmed to Ukrainian Pravda by a source in the Kharkiv military-civilian administration. No official announcement of the liberation of Kupyansk has arrived from Kyiv or the UAF, but the Security Service of Ukraine has confirmed the arrival of troops in the city, publishing photos of fighters located there.

Igor Strelkov (real name Girkin), who was the defense minister of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DNR) in 2014 and since the start of the war has regularly commented on the movements of Russian troops, announced that Russian armed forces had left the western part of Kupyansk. He says the area is about two-thirds of the city.

Ukrainian troops are still unable to enter the eastern part of the city, which is separated from the western part by the Oskol river, says Evgeny Poddubny with the All-Russia State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company (VGTRK), reporting from the city on September 8. Alexander Kots, war correspondent for Komsomolskaya Pravda writes that “it proved impossible to contain the enemy near Kupyansk” and “withdrawn units will take up defensive positions on the east bank of the Oskol.”

Daniil Bezsonov, deputy minister of information for the self-proclaimed DNR, announced that Russian troops had left the city of Izyum, located about 43 miles (70 km) southwest of Kupyansk. Strelkov also discussed the departure of Russian troops from Izyum under threat of full encirclement, saying a wide array of sources had confirmed the information.

Ukrainian and Russian military bloggers write that the UAF have crossed the Northern Donetsk River and are advancing on Lyman. This means that the Russian army has failed to stop the Ukrainian offensive at the confluence of the Oskol and Northern Donetsk Rivers.