Ukrainian Troops Liberate Most Of Kupyansk
- 28.12.2025, 9:25
Numerous geolocation videos confirm the success of the AFU.
The Russian Defense Ministry is trying its best to hide the failures of its troops in Kupyansk, in the Kharkiv region. At the same time, Ukrainian defenders have managed to clear most of the city.
The American Institute for the Study of War reports.
Analysts note that on December 27, the Russian Defense Ministry abruptly resumed publishing detailed situational reports on the Kupyansk area after facing widespread criticism from Russian "war correspondents" regarding exaggerations and lies by military commanders and Kremlin officials about Russian advances in Kupyansk.
"On December 27, the Russian Defense Ministry published videos and statements by company commanders of the Russian 1427th, 1468th and 1843rd motorized rifle regiments (all three of the 6th All-Russian Army, Leningrad Military District) claiming that units of the 6th Army allegedly control Kupyansk and Russian troops are allegedly operating in the central and northeastern part of the city," the ISW report said.
Experts noted that Russian state media reduced coverage of Kupyansk following Ukraine's successes in the area, although the Russian Defense Ministry provided detailed daily reports on the fighting in Kupyansk in late November 2025.
"The Russian Defense Ministry likely used low-ranking commanders in the December 27 reports to try to restore credibility in the Russian media space. The Kremlin is also likely trying to use Russian State Duma deputies who 'strongly deny Ukrainian achievements' to soften the negative reaction to Kupyansk by the broader Russian public," the analysts said.
The ISW cited the example of the rhetoric of Andrey Kolesnik, a member of the State Duma Defense Committee, on December 27, who accused Ukraine of allegedly falsifying the situation with its control of Kupyansk.
The Russian Defense Ministry, Kremlin officials and Russian state media appear to have been drawn into a government-wide effort to cover up failures on the Kupyansk battlefield and to respond to widespread criticism from "milbloggers" and ultranationalists about the Kremlin's false reports about the situation in the city.
By the way, the deputy commander of the regiment 429 BPS "Achilles" Oles Maliarevich noticed on the air of Channel 24 that several invaders are still hiding in Kupyansk. The situation in the city itself, according to the military officer, remains difficult, as the Russian command has sent reserves to this direction, as well as using drones for infantry attacks.
The ISW noted that there is enough evidence that Ukrainian troops have liberated most of Kupyansk.
That is, geolocation videos released on December 16, 20 and 26 indicate that Ukrainian troops have recently advanced along the P-07 Kupyansk-Shevchenkovo highway and the P-79 Kupyansk-Chuguev highway in the center of Kupyansk.
"ISW has seen numerous geolocation videos in recent weeks that indicate Ukrainian Army advances near and within Kupyansk, consistent with Ukrainian officials' claims of Defense Force successes in the area," the report said.
At the same time, Russian "military officials," including those who traditionally hesitate to criticize the Russian Defense Ministry, have taken up an unusual discourse, acknowledging Ukraine's successes and aggressively accusing their Defense Ministry of lying about Russian advances.
Although individual Russian "milbloggers" tried to downplay or write off Ukraine's successes in the Kupyansk area, there were still "military" people who wrote that this was manipulation and a way to divert attention from the main problem - the systemic culture of lying in the Russian military.
"The Russian Defense Ministry is probably now redoubling its efforts to cover up its failures in Kupyansk in order not to weaken Russia's position in the ongoing peace talks with the United States," the experts stressed.
At the end of the day, the analysts summarized that the scale of available open-source evidence about Ukraine's advance in Kupyansk, combined with the unusually large number of corroborating reports from Russian sources that do not normally discuss Ukraine's successes on the battlefield, seriously undermine the Kremlin's cognitive warfare efforts, which aim to portray Russian military victory as inevitable and Ukrainian defenses as on the verge of collapse.