Russia Recaptures Strategic Kupiansk City in Eastern Ukraine as War Developments Unfold

Kupiansk, once home to approximately 55,000 residents, has reportedly fallen to Russian forces again.

On Thursday, the Russian military announced they had successfully recaptured the strategically significant Ukrainian city of Kupiansk, an important stronghold for Kyiv in the eastern Kharkiv region where Russian forces have been making consistent advances.

Ukrainian forces had previously reclaimed this eastern railway hub in September, months after it initially fell to Moscow's troops on the first day of the 2022 offensive. However, in recent months, Ukrainian soldiers have been struggling defensively across the front line.

According to televised comments, Sergei Kuzovlev, commander of the western troop grouping, informed President Vladimir Putin that Russian forces "have completed the liberation of the city of Kupiansk." Kuzovlev characterized the city as a "key cog in Ukraine's defences."

This development coincides with Ukraine's reception of a US proposal aimed at ending the conflict. According to a senior source familiar with the draft who spoke to AFP, the proposal appears to align with Russia's maximalist demands for Kyiv to surrender territory currently under Moscow's control.

Shortly before this announcement, the Kremlin reported that Putin had visited an army command post amid Russia's ongoing offensive against Ukraine, where he received briefings from officers about the situation at the front.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov informed journalists that "the president and supreme commander-in-chief visited one of the command posts for the western troop grouping and held a meeting with the chief of staff," though he did not specify whether the post was located within Russia or occupied Ukraine.

Prior to the conflict, Kupiansk had a population of approximately 55,000 people.