On 5 January, Ukrainian official Andrii Besedin said Russian troops are advancing towards Kupiansk in Kharkiv Oblast, with the frontline now located just two kilometers from the city’s center, according to UNIAN.
Kupiansk is a critical railway and logistical center, with multiple highways and five railway lines converging there. Control over the city would facilitate the movement of troops and supplies, enhancing Russian operational capabilities in Karkhiv Oblast. It would also provide Russian forces with a foothold for further offensive operations into eastern Ukraine, particularly targeting Donetsk Oblast. The capture of Kupiansk would also support flanking maneuvers against Kharkiv, making it easier to encircle the city.
Besedin, the head of the Kupiansk city administration, reported that Russian forces are intensively shelling the central parts of the Kupiansk community, an area with no military infrastructure.
“The shelling involves all types of weaponry that the Russians currently possess: not only guided bombs but also multiple launch rocket systems, various unmanned aerial vehicles like the Molniia, which targets vehicles, and FPV drones, which the Russians are using in large numbers. The frontline is only two kilometers from the center of Kupiansk. Kivsharivka and Kupiansk-Vuzlovyi are slightly farther, but these are within mortar or FPV drone range,” Besedin said.
He also added that none of the 257 multi-apartment buildings in the community remain intact. There are 3,300 civilians left in the Kupiansk area, with 900 on the left bank of the community, which has been left without electricity and heating for the past three months. On the right bank, civilian infrastructure still exists, and government services and institutions are functioning.
“Right now, people are staying. They are true patriots because in such conditions, it’s not about money or earnings, it’s about the community, people, and support. Employees of the State Emergency Service, police, and prosecutors, who are constantly working, searching for collaborators, as well as employees of municipal enterprises, are among them,” Besedin added.
Recently, Major Maksym Zhorin, deputy commander of Ukraine’s 3rd Separate Assault Brigade, said Russian forces resumed using military vehicles for assaults on Ukrainian positions due to worsened weather conditions.
Zhorin noted that rain and frost have significantly hampered Ukrainian forces’ ability to control the frontline and conduct reconnaissance, leading to substantial losses of unmanned aerial vehicles, particularly Mavics.
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