“According to Tregubov, there are about 100 people in the city, less than 200 for sure”, — write: www.radiosvoboda.org
“Now there are about 100 people there, more than 100, definitely less than 200. Something like that. According to active callsigns, there were about 40, but this may be outdated data – it was 10 days ago. An active callsign is an active walkie-talkie, that is, one for several people,” he said on the air of the national telethon.
Tregubov also recalled that on November 15 Russian invaders in Kupyansk dropped flags of the Russian Federation from drones to create a picture for propagandists.
“As of now, it is more about the attempts of the Russians to put pressure on the troops that are on the eastern bank of the Oskil River, and secondly, to put pressure on and try to unblock Kupyansk. There are such attempts, but so far they are unsuccessful,” Tregubov added.
Read also: “Operation Kupyan”: how the Defense Forces managed to turn the tide of the battle
Russia has been claiming since November 20 that Kupyansk was taken by the Russian army, and “15 battalions of the Armed Forces” are allegedly blocked south of it. On December 2, Putin even announced that “in a few days” the Russian army would allegedly take control of Kupyansk-Vuzlovy. And on December 19, he announced the complete control of the Russian Federation over Kupyansk. The Ukrainian side denies these statements.
On December 17, the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Oleksandr Syrskyi said that the Ukrainian military controls almost 90% of Kupyansk.
Analysts at the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) believe that the Kremlin is using claims of advances in and around Kupyansk for cognitive warfare, Moscow’s actions aimed at presenting Ukrainian positions as on the brink of collapse, so that Ukraine and the West will give in to Russia’s demands.
Kupyansk is of strategic importance for the defense of Donbass, and its loss could lead to the encirclement of Ukrainian troops on the left bank of the Oskol River, writes the Radio Liberty Donbass.Realii project. The threat to Kupyansk has been growing since the summer.