Russia sets new February deadline to take Kupiansk, Ukrainian military says (MAP)

Russia has set a new deadline to seize Kupiansk in Kharkiv Oblast by February 2026, but its repeated offensives continue to collapse under Ukrainian resistance, according to RBC-Ukraine. Despite escalating pressure and intensified attacks, Russian troops remain unable to breach the city’s defenses and are suffering serious losses in the process.

Another failed push to “take” Kupiansk

Russian forces are again trying to storm Kupiansk—a city they falsely claimed to have captured multiple times before—but all recent attempts have ended in failure. Viktor Trehubov, spokesperson for Ukraine’s Joint Forces Grouping, told RBC-Ukraine that Russia’s latest objective is to occupy in the course of this month. When asked whether Russia has a plan to seize the Ukrainian city, he replied: 

"Yes, by February."

Yet their ground assaults and infiltration efforts are consistently being repelled, according to Trehubov.

“North of Kupiansk they can’t break through, their infiltration attempts are being thwarted,” he said. 

The situation remains tense, particularly on the left bank of the Oskil River, where Russian forces keep pushing, but not a single group has made it into the city. 

At the same time, a small number of the Russian soldiers remain trapped in the city. Signals intelligence reveals about 30 Russian soldiers are currently surrounded inside Kupiansk, completely cut off from reinforcements.

Ukrainian counterattack flipped the situation in December

Back in early December, when the situation near Kupiansk was genuinely difficult, Ukrainian forces struck with a prepared counteroffensive. They liberated the Yuvileinyi neighborhood, cut off the Russian supply line, and trapped at least 200 invaders. The Russian side reportedly lost over 1,000 soldiers during their failed offensive.

At the time, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy noted that General Sergei Kuzovlev—the Russian officer who had reported to Putin about the supposed “full capture” of Kupiansk—disappeared after the counterstrike. That same general has recently resurfaced, once again setting artificial deadlines for his already-disgraced forces to “retake” the city.