Russia Claims Capture of Kupiansk
Russia's Ministry of Defense claims its forces have captured the strategic Ukrainian city of Kupiansk, a critical logistics and railway hub in the Kharkiv region. The announcement coincided with a high-profile visit by President Putin to a forward command post. Ukrainian officials have not confirmed the loss but acknowledge “intensified Russian offensives” in the area.
Kupiansk has been a fiercely contested city since the early days of the full-scale invasion. Russian forces initially seized the key railway hub in February 2022, but Ukrainian troops liberated it during the lightning Kharkiv counteroffensive in September of the same year. The city's strategic value lies in its position as a critical logistics node, particularly the Kupiansk-Vuzlovyi railway station, which is essential for supplying military operations in the region. The recent claim of capture follows a prolonged Russian offensive that began in late 2024 and intensified throughout 2025. This effort saw Russian forces establish bridgeheads across the Oskil River and engage in fierce street-to-street fighting, taking control of parts of the city. However, these advances came at a high cost, with one estimate suggesting the campaign consumed at least two combined-arms armies and over 13,000 soldiers. This is not the first time Russia has declared victory in Kupiansk. In November 2025, Russian General Valery Gerasimov announced the city had been fully captured, a claim echoed by other officials. In response, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited the city's outskirts to dispute the assertion. In mid-December 2025, Ukrainian forces launched a significant counterattack, encircling the remaining Russian troops within the city. This operation successfully cut off Russian ground supply routes, forcing the besieged units to rely on drone drops for meager supplies. Ukrainian military sources reported that by late February 2026, the number of Russian soldiers trapped in several high-rise buildings had dwindled to just a few dozen. The battlefield dynamics shifted as Ukrainian forces made their most significant gains since their 2024 incursion into Kursk Oblast, liberating substantial territory around Kupiansk in December 2025. Reports from late February 2026 indicated that Ukrainian forces had confident control over the city, with only a small, isolated pocket of Russian soldiers remaining.
