Ukrainian forces announced on Saturday that they had recaptured the city of Kupiansk in eastern Ukraine, a key location in the hands of the Russian army for several months, AFP reported.
The Ukrainian special forces spread images on social networks, showing their officers in Kupiansk, “which always was and will be Ukrainian”, they said. ‘
The images show a group of soldiers in camouflage, with automatic weapons and gathered around an armored vehicle.
A regional official, meanwhile, posted a photo of Ukrainian soldiers in the city of 27,000, with the caption: “Kupiansk is Ukraine.”
The new major breakthrough claimed by Ukrainian forces comes after kyiv claimed to have regained control of 30 towns in the Kharkiv area on the Russian border in recent days.
The city of Kupiansk, located about 120 kilometers southeast of Kharkiv, fell to the Russians less than a week after Moscow’s offensive in Ukraine began on February 24.
A takeover by Ukrainian forces could pose a serious problem for Moscow, as the city is on the supply routes of other front-line Russian positions.
kyiv may soon, according to conflict observers, increase its pressure on other Russian-controlled cities, in particular Izium, which had a population of about 45,000 before the start of the war and is of great importance for operations. military from Moscow.
The February 24 offensive in Ukraine has already caused the flight of nearly 13 million people -more than six million internally displaced persons and almost seven million to neighboring countries-, according to the latest UN figures, which catalog this crisis of refugees as the worst in Europe since the Second World War (1939-1945).
The Russian invasion was condemned by the international community at large, which has responded by sending weapons to Ukraine and imposing sanctions on Russia in everything from banking to energy to sports.
The UN presented as confirmed 5,587 civilian deaths and 7,890 wounded, stressing that the real figures are much higher and will only be known at the end of the conflict.
Source: TSF
