Chief of the Russian General Staff Valery Gerasimov told Vladimir Putin that Russian forces had fully captured Kupyansk in the Kharkiv region. He also said the Russian army controlled 80% of Vovchansk and 70% of Pokrovsk. Putin, in turn, claimed that 15 Ukrainian battalions had been blocked near Kupyansk.
The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine rejected those claims. The Ukrainian side said Kupyansk remained under the control of Ukraine’s defense forces and that counter-sabotage measures and special operations were underway in the city and its outskirts against reconnaissance and sabotage groups that had entered the area.
Even Russian pro-war commentators, Novaya Gazeta Europe wrote, noted that statements about the city’s full capture were not supported by objective visual evidence. Military researcher Kirill Mikhaylov told the outlet that Gerasimov’s claims were far from reality, although Ukraine’s position in the areas mentioned remains difficult because Russian forces continue to advance and urban fighting goes on.
Retired Ukrainian colonel Roman Svitan said that about half of Kupyansk is effectively a gray zone: street fighting is underway in the center, Russian units have taken parts of the private housing sector, and Ukrainian forces hold the multi-story residential areas. In his view, there is no immediate threat of Ukraine losing the city, and the battle could continue for a long time. Military-political observer Alexander Kovalenko likewise said Kupyansk is not under Russian control, adding that Russian troops have only secured positions in the city’s northwestern section on the right bank of the Oskil River.
The experts also stressed the importance of Kupyansk-Vuzlovyi, located south of the city, where, according to Svitan, the Ukrainian garrison is holding its positions. The settlement matters because of its rail station, which is connected to the Russian hub at Valuyki and to lines leading toward the Luhansk, Donetsk, and Kharkiv regions. Kovalenko argued that control of Kupyansk is important for Russia because it could open the way for further advances along the right bank of the Oskil deeper into the Kharkiv region.
Commenting on Putin’s statement about 15 battalions being surrounded, the experts interviewed by Novaya Gazeta Europe called it implausible. Mikhaylov said that such a force would be comparable in size to a corps holding a front stretching for dozens of kilometers. Kovalenko added that this could mean 9,000 to 12,000 troops, and said it was impossible to imagine such a grouping being encircled at the current stage of the war.