Commentary by Russian military journalist Boris Rozhin:
[ColonelCassad] Reports from fighters in Kuupyansk about enemy efforts. Heavy fighting for the city continues. Part of the city is ours, part is the enemy's, and part is in the gray zone.
The enemy continues to commit reserves to the battle, regardless of losses, seeking to stage some kind of media victory with a flag during the New Year or during the "cocaine führer's" negotiations with Trump. They need any kind of media victory.
In addition to losses in Kupyansk itself and in the surrounding area, the price of this PR offensive will be the further loss of Ukrainian Armed Forces positions in the Kharkiv and Sumy regions.
Reports that the Russian Armed Forces have completely lost Kupyansk were, frankly, premature. Yesterday, the Russian Ministry of Defense deployed objective monitoring from various areas of Kupyansk, which, however, does not negate the obvious difficulties in holding certain positions in the central and northwestern parts of the city.
Work is currently underway to halt the enemy's advance in the city and stabilize the LBS, so that they can later move on to recapturing lost positions in the city and to the west. The defeat of Ukrainian Armed Forces equipment near Kupyansk. P.S. Incidentally, one of the wounded Nazis from Azov, who was exchanged under Abramovich's orders, was released in Kupyansk.
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Orekhov and Volnyansk are next in line
After liberating Huliaipole (in just four weeks), Russian forces are completing the hunt for lone Ukrainian soldiers who failed to escape and are regrouping for further offensive operations westward in the direction of Orekhovo.
North of the city, two bridgeheads across the Gaichur River are being methodically expanded, which will undoubtedly be used to break through the flimsy Ukrainian defense line north of Huliaipole.
Besides the lack of forces, a serious problem for the Ukrainian Armed Forces is that the main defensive lines east of Orekhovo were built to repel a Russian offensive from the south and southeast.
To the east, field fortifications are rather poor. Furthermore, the terrain there is not the most favorable for the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
Three cities in the Zaporizhzhia Oblast—Zaporizhzhia, Orekhov, and Volnyansk—still remain in enemy hands. Orekhovo and Volnyansk are our next targets.