By Rostyslav Averchuk
Lviv (EFE).- Advances in Kupyansk, which Russia claimed to have captured in November, mark one of Ukraine’s major successes on the battlefield over the last two years, as Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy relies on the resilience of his army to strengthen the country’s negotiating position ahead of the key meeting with United States delegates in Berlin next week.
Combat is still ongoing inside the major logistical hub in the Kharkiv region; however, the advantage is now on the Ukrainian side, whose operation has managed to recapture the north-western suburbs of the city, after Russia’s supply lines were cut several weeks ago.
“The Russian troops in the city can no longer receive reinforcements,” Ukraine’s military spokesman Viktor Tregubov told Ukrinform news agency on Saturday, following the surprise visit by President Zelenskyy to the outskirts of the city on Friday.
Russian troops under pressure
According to Tregubov and other military sources, between 100 and 200 Russian soldiers remain inside Kupyansk, yet their ability to fight on is limited, since they can only receive ammunition and other supplies by aerial drones.
Cutting Russian logistics became a key part of the operation, according to Yuri Butusov, well-known military blogger and drone unit commander, who participated in the joint effort led by the Khartia Corps.
Butusov recognized, in his post on Facebook on Saturday, that much of the city was in Russia’s hands by the middle of September, after its troops crossed the river Oskil and infiltrated Kupyansk from the north.
However, at the time when Russian top general Valeriy Gerasimov informed Vladimir Putin on Nov. 20 of the city’s “liberation,” Russia’s supply lines had been cut already for a month thanks to a successful counter-attack by Ukraine’s assault and drone units.
The remaining Russian troops are being detected and destroyed, building after building, Butusov claimed, while recognizing that Russia continues its attempts to unblock its isolated troops and advance towards the city from other directions.
Even though Russia has numerical superiority around Kupyansk and Ukrainian forces also suffer significant losses, careful planning helped to ensure the operation’s success so far, he noted.
Effect on negotiations
“This Ukrainian counterattack demonstrates that Ukrainian forces remain capable of defending and counterattacking against significant Russian offensive efforts, contrary to the claims of Russian President Vladimir Putin that the Ukrainian lines are collapsing,” the US-based Institute for the Study of War underlined in its latest analysis on Saturday.
While Russia maintains the upper hand in many areas along the front line thanks to its infantry assaults, superiority in optical fibre drones and guided aerial bombs, Moscow has been exaggerating its successes in an apparent attempt to discourage Ukraine’s foreign partners from providing any further support.
The argument that Ukraine is doomed to lose on the battlefield has been occasionally voiced by US President Donald Trump, who urges his Ukrainian counterpart to accept a peace plan that would include the complete retreat of the Ukrainian troops from the Donetsk region.
Ukraine’s leadership expects that the setback suffered by the Russian forces in the Kharkiv region will help to disrupt this narrative and change the perception that it “has no cards,” at a time when it has also extended strikes against Russia’s oil infrastructure to attacks on oil tankers.
“Achieving results on the frontline is crucial so that Ukraine can achieve results in diplomacy,” President Zelenskyy said during his visit to Kupyansk.
“This is exactly how it works: all our strong positions within the country translate into strong positions in the negotiations to end the war,” he underlined in a video filmed near the destroyed entrance sign to the city on Friday.
Even though the impact of the events in Kupiansk on the negotiations remains uncertain, the reports from the city also serve as a morale boost to many Ukrainians, following months of Russia’s advances, and raise hopes that similar success could be replicated in other parts of the frontline.EFE
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