Russia Claims To Be Successful In Resuming The City Of Kupiansk In Ukraine

President Putin visited the Russian military West Group command post. (Source: Kremlin)

JAKARTA - The Russian military claims to have reclaimed the Ukrainian city of Kupiansk, as President Vladimir Putin visited the country's military West Group command post and held a meeting with military elites on Thursday.

Chief of the General Staff of the Russian military, General Valery Gerasimov, told President Putin Russian troops had taken control of the city of Kupiansk in Ukraine.

The Kremlin said President Putin had been briefed on the situation in Kostitynivka and Kramatorsk in the Donetsk region, Ukraine, as well as around Kupiansk in the Kharkiv region.

"Units from the 'West' group have freed the city of Kupiansk and continue to destroy the units of the trapped Ukrainian armed forces on the left side of the Oskol River," General Gerasimov told President Putin, as reported by Al Arabiya on November 21.

Quoted from The Moscow Times, Kupiansk is an important bulwark for Ukraine located in eastern Kharkiv, where Russian troops continue to move forward.

Kyiv took back the east train hub in September, months after falling into the hands of Moscow troops on the first day of the 2022 invasion, but in recent months Ukrainian soldiers have been in an unfavorable position on the front lines.

Russian troops "have completed the release of the city of Kupiansk," Sergei Kuzovlev, commander of western forces, told President Vladimir Putin, according to comments broadcast on television. He described the city as "the main driving force in Ukraine's defenses."

On the same occasion, General Gerasimov also informed President Putin that Russian troops had controlled 70 percent of Pokrovsk, and more than 80 percent of Vovchansk.