The Ukrainian advances in Kupiansk, an eastern city that Russia reportedly captured in November, represent one of Ukraine’s biggest battle successes in the past two years, strengthening the country’s military and negotiating position ahead of a key meeting with U.S. envoys in Berlin.
Fighting continues in this key logistics hub of the Kharkiv region, but the advantage now lies with the Ukrainian side, which has managed to recapture the city’s northwestern suburbs after Russian supply lines were cut several weeks ago.
“Russian troops in the city can no longer receive reinforcements,” Ukrainian military spokesman Viktor Tregubov told the Ukrinform agency this Saturday (December 13, 2025) after President Volodymyr Zelensky made a surprise visit to the outskirts of the city a day earlier.
Russian troops under pressure
According to Tregubov and other military sources, between 100 and 200 Russian soldiers remain in Kupiansk, but their ability to continue fighting is limited as they can only receive ammunition and other supplies via drones.
According to Yuri Butúsov, a well-known military blogger and drone unit commander, disrupting Russian logistics became a key element of the counteroffensive. Butúsov admitted that a large part of the city was in Russian hands in mid-September. But when Russian Chief of Staff Valery Gerasimov informed Russian President Vladimir Putin of the city’s “liberation” on November 20, Russian supply lines had already been interrupted for a month.
The remaining Russian troops are being discovered and destroyed building by building, says Butúsov. At the same time, he admits that Russia continues to try to unlock its isolated forces and advance on the city from other directions.
Impact on negotiations
“This Ukrainian counterattack shows that Ukrainian forces remain capable of defending and counterattacking significant Russian offensive efforts, contrary to Putin’s claims that Ukrainian (defense) lines are collapsing,” the US-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW) emphasized in its analysis on Saturday.
While Russia retains the initiative on much of the front line thanks to its infantry attacks, advantage in fiber optic drones and guided air bombs, Moscow is exaggerating its successes in an apparent attempt to discourage Ukraine’s foreign partners from continuing their support, the ISW also finds.
The Ukrainian leadership hopes that the setback suffered by Russian forces in the Kharkiv region will help debunk this narrative and change the perception that Ukraine “holds no cards.” “Achieving results on the front is crucial for Ukraine to achieve results in diplomacy,” President Zelensky said during his visit to Kupiansk.
(mn/efe, afp)
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