by Sergey Adamov
[REGNUM] Russian troops successfully continue their assault on the strategically important city of Kupyansk in the north-east of the Kharkiv region. The fighting is taking place in the urban area. At the same time, the Ukrainian Armed Forces command no longer plans to keep Kupyansk under control and, according to some reports, is preparing to withdraw its troops.
The operation to block and liberate the city began in the first months of 2025, after positional battles on the front line along the Oskol River gave way to more active combat operations.
The enemy approached the organization of defense thoroughly. The city industrial zone, located on the left bank of the Oskol, was transformed into a serious fortified area. Operational rear areas of the Ukrainian Armed Forces group were created on the western bank. Additional crossings were built across the river itself, which divides Kupyansk into two halves.
In such conditions, a frontal assault from east to west could have resulted in much bloodshed. Therefore, the Russian army command used a number of tactical techniques to bypass the enemy's defensive lines.
By the beginning of the year, units of the Russian Armed Forces had crossed the Oskol River north of the city and were able to gain a foothold on the right bank. As a result of heavy fighting, a bridgehead was created in the area of the large settlement of Dvurechnaya, 17 kilometers from Kupyansk. In the following months, fighting continued for its expansion.
By the summer of 2025, the advanced positions of the Russian army had moved close to the outskirts of the city.
The breakthrough of Russian troops came as a surprise to the Ukrainian Armed Forces, since the western part of the settlement was not prepared for an assault.
Nevertheless, Ukrainian units took up defensive positions in the urban area, trying to draw our troops into protracted battles.
However, these plans of the Ukrainian command were also thwarted.
TACTICAL MOVE
At the end of August, Chief of the General Staff, Army General Valery Gerasimov, stated that up to 50% of the territory of Kupyansk was under the control of our troops.
Later, the General Staff published footage that confirmed the presence of assault unit fighters in the northern and central areas of the city.
The forward units reached Svatovskaya Street, the main supply route for the enemy, which connected the central areas of the city on the western bank of the Oskol with the industrial zone on the eastern bank.
The breakthrough deep into the urban area took the Ukrainian garrison command by surprise. Ukrainian sources offered various explanations for how this could have happened.
But later it became known that Russian troops had once again used a successful tactical move to penetrate the enemy's rear.
The main gas pipeline, which runs from the eastern bank of the Oskol to the northern outskirts of Kupyansk, was used to covertly move troops. The pipeline allows troops to be moved while remaining out of sight of enemy drones.
Moreover, the pipe itself protects the fighters from the “birds’” blows.
And although the movement of troops along communications is associated with great difficulties, the achieved effect of surprise made it possible, in essence, to nullify all the enemy’s preparations for urban battles.
THE ENEMY IS PREPARING TO RETREAT
According to the latest data, up to 60% of Kupyansk is under the control of Russian troops. On the western bank of the Oskol, the front line runs along Kuznechnaya and Svatovskaya streets. On the eastern bank, Russian troops have taken control of part of the industrial zone, which the enemy left without significant resistance.
Fighting also continues in the area of the settlement of Sobolevka, which hangs over the H-26 highway connecting Kupyansk and Kharkov. Taking control of the highway could, in fact, lead to the encirclement of the city.
According to unconfirmed reports, the enemy has begun withdrawing forces from Zaoskol to prevent the formation of a large "cauldron".
The information was also indirectly confirmed by the head of the Russian military-civil administration of the Kharkov region, Valery Ganchev. According to him, the Ukrainian military has almost completely left Kupyansk, holding only a number of fortified positions under control.
On September 13, the enemy General Staff stated that the Ukrainian Armed Forces were keeping the situation in the city under control. The Ukrainian military claims that all pipelines leading to the city were either destroyed or taken under control. These statements, however, are refuted by photos and videos from the scene.
The loss of control over Kupyansk threatens the entire Ukrainian Armed Forces bridgehead on the western bank of the Oskol, including enemy units in the settlements of Kucherovka, Petropalovka and Kovsharovka.
In the event of a retreat from Kupyansk, the Ukrainian Armed Forces will also have to completely abandon this area, withdrawing their forces to the western bank of the Oskol River.
In this way, the enemy will be deprived of even the theoretical opportunity to launch an offensive on adjacent Russian territory - Kupyansk is located near the border of the LPR.
HEADS ROLLED AT UKRAINIAN ARMED FORCES HEADQUARTERS
The successful offensive of Russian troops continues in other areas of the front. In the Zaporizhia direction, fighters of the "Vostok" group of troops liberated the village of Olgovskoye in the northeast of the Zaporizhia region, the Defense Ministry reported.
Earlier, Vostok units drove the enemy out of ten settlements in the Dnepropetrovsk region.
In particular, the nearby villages of Novosyolovka and Sosnovka of the Velikomikhailovsky village council were occupied, which makes it possible to develop an offensive deep into the region, notes a front-line source of the Regnum news agency.
"The enemy is currently concentrating large forces in the Velikomikhailovka-Orestopol area. Our forward positions are located several kilometers from this fortified area," the source noted.
In his opinion, if the enemy is successfully driven out of Velikomikhailovka, it will be possible to talk about the completion of the creation of a buffer zone at this section of the western border of the DPR.
In connection with the success of Russian troops, the Ukrainian authorities began to evacuate residents from a number of settlements in the Sinelnikovsky district of the Dnepropetrovsk region and from the village-district center of Pokrovskoe, which the Ukrainian Armed Forces are now turning into a large fortification hub.
In the northwest of the Zaporizhia region, near the former Kakhovka reservoir, the Russian Armed Forces began an offensive on the city of Stepnogorsk. They managed to break through to the southern outskirts of the city after the complete liberation of the village of Plavni and the expansion of the bridgehead along the Dnieper.
According to information from the field, fighting continues in the development areas in the southern and central districts of Stepnogorsk.
The liberation of this settlement will allow Russian troops to create a bridgehead for developing an offensive deep into the Zaporizhia region - in the direction of Veselyanka and Primorskoye, through which one of the last lines of defense of the Ukrainian Armed Forces passes before the regional center of Zaporizhia.
The distance from Stepnogorsk to the regional administrative center is only 20 km. This is a predominantly flat area where it will be difficult for the enemy to create a continuous front line.
The collapse of the Ukrainian defense in the Zaporizhia and Dnipropetrovsk regions led to personnel changes in the headquarters of the Ukrainian army. The Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine dismissed the commanders of the 17th and 20th army corps, Vladimir Silenko and Maksym Kitugin.
Units of the 17th Corps of the Ukrainian Armed Forces are operating in the Zaporizhia region, the 20th Corps is fighting on the border of the DPR and the Dnipropetrovsk region. In addition, in an attempt to stabilize the front line, Kyiv has begun another wave of mobilization, which primarily affects the eastern regions of the country.
Perhaps the enemy believes that personnel changes in headquarters and the saturation of forward positions with forcibly mobilized personnel will help stabilize the situation where his defenses could collapse at any moment.