"The Kremlin's Pain Point."
- 17.01.2026, 18:39
ISW told why Russia is spreading false reports about the capture of Kupyansk.
Putin and the Russian military command are systematically spreading false claims about the alleged capture of Kupyansk in an attempt to form an alternative picture of the fighting and influence the U.S. position in the context of peace talks. This is told in a new analysis by the Institute for the Study of War (ISW). As the analysts note, Moscow now continues to claim that it controls the Ukrainian city despite ample evidence to the contrary.
Experts believe that statements about the "capture" of Kupyansk are aimed at creating the impression of an inevitable Russian victory and should convince Ukraine and Western countries to agree to Moscow's demands for fear of future offensives or breakthroughs by the Russian army. "Kupyansk has become a pain point for the Russian military command, probably because of fears that the reality of fighting in the area will undermine the narratives about Russian military power that Putin and senior Russian military commanders are trying to spread," ISW emphasizes.
The Russian side has repeatedly claimed to have captured the town. On November 20, Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov reported to Vladimir Putin on the capture of Kupyansk, which drew criticism from a number of Z-bloggers. On Nov. 27, Putin declared the "complete elimination" of the Ukrainian group in the town, and on Dec. 2 he invited foreign journalists there. On December 9, he presented the Star of Hero of Russia to the commander of the "West" group, Colonel-General Sergey Kuzovlev.
On December 12, however, OSINT project DeepState reported that the AFU had blocked Russian units in Kupyansk. On the same day, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky arrived in Kupyansk and published in his Telegram channel a video taken at the stele at the entrance to the town. On December 17, Russian Defense Minister Andrey Belousov again reported the capture of the settlement, which Kiev called a fake. Russian "war correspondents" also did not confirm control over Kupyansk, and it later emerged that Russian Defense Ministry videos allegedly showing the capture of the town actually recorded the retreat of Russian troops.
On December 29, Colonel-General Kuzovlev reported to Putin about the encirclement of the AFU near Kupyansk and promised their destruction. And on January 12, the Ukrainian military published a video of the Ukrainian flag being raised over the Kupyansk city council building. Despite this, on January 15, Valery Gerasimov reiterated that the city was under Russian control.