Ukrainian Spokesman: No New Effective Russian Infiltration Toward Kupiansk Since Operation Veles
A Joint Forces Group spokesman says both sides still hold positions in Kupiansk, but Russian attempts to slip into the city have stopped working since Ukraine targeted a pipeline used for covert movement.
By Ayanda Novak ·
Ukrainian and Russian troops are both still present in the city of Kupiansk in Kharkiv Oblast, according to Viktor Trehubov, spokesman for the Joint Forces Group. He made the remarks on live television, as reported by Ukrinform.
Trehubov said small Russian groups had managed to get into the city's northern districts and set up a foothold there. They reached the city by several routes, including through the village of Holubivka, and tried to establish positions in the northern residential areas.
He described how the situation developed. Russian forces had effectively been driven out of Kupiansk once, he said. They then created what they regarded as a grey zone in Holubivka and made use of a pipeline. "They were able to infiltrate the northern districts with a certain number of troops, several dozen, roughly, and establish positions there," Trehubov said.
The spokesman also explained why the city remains attractive to Russian units. Kupiansk has suffered less destruction than other towns on the front, such as Vovchansk. "Vovchansk has been reduced to rubble. But Kupiansk still has substantial buildings that can be used as shelters and launch sites. In general, there is still infrastructure there that can be put to use," he noted.
Trehubov said Operation Veles was aimed at completely disabling the pipeline that Russian forces had used to infiltrate the Kupiansk front covertly. Since the operation, he added, no further effective Russian infiltrations toward Kupiansk have been recorded.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had previously commented on the operation. During Veles, Ukraine's defence forces, under the command of the Khartiia Corps, advanced more than 15 km underground into the Russian rear.
Zelenskyy said Russian forces had earlier tried to use underground gas infrastructure to move through Ukrainian positions and launch assaults. In his words, Ukrainian soldiers had changed that tactic, modernised it and made it far more sophisticated and technologically advanced. "We are protecting the lives of our people, inflicting losses on the occupiers, and achieving our objectives in the Kupiansk sector," the president wrote.
Source: Ukrainska Pravda
