UKRAINE, KUPIANSK, Sep. 8. — At about 2:30 p.m. on Sep. 7, the Russian military shelled Kupiansk in Kharkiv oblast from mortars, injuring a 6-year-old girl and damaging residential buildings, reports Kharkiv regional Prosecutor’s office. 

In November of 2023, the governor of Kharkiv Oblast, Oleh Syniehubov, reported that all children had been evacuated from the threatened communities of the Kupiansk district, including from the city of Kupiansk itself. A mandatory evacuation of families with children was announced in October 2023. 

Gwara’s journalists asked Andrii Besedin, head of Kupiansk military administration, why the girl was in Kupiansk. 

Besedin responded, “When and how a child appeared at her grandmother’s home in Kupiansk is being investigated by the law enforcement.” 

He added that, before that, a girl and her parents evacuated to Kharkiv from another community of the region, not from the Kupiansk community. 

Besedin said the girl was injured by “secondary objects, most likely a piece of slate.” He added that the girl has a head injury and is hospitalized.

Child injured in Russian mortar strike on KUpiansk
Child injured in Russian mortar strike on Kupiansk / Photo: Kharkiv regional Prosecutor’s Office

Russia renewed its efforts to seize Kupiansk in spring 2025. In August, the presence of Russian sabotage reconnaissance groups in the city was reported by people evacuated from Kupiansk and Ukrainian soldiers working in and around Kupiansk. Local officials denied having information about the Russian SRGs there. 

DeepState’s OSINT analysts talked about the severity of the issue. They noted that the presence of the Russian military was documented even in the center of the city — “the enemy was sneaking around there for some time.” 

DeepState said that Russians try to occupy the surrounding area to increase the possibility of “getting a foothold in the city” in Kupiansk. 

According to the DeepState map and soldiers working on this axis, Russian troops are also trying to push along the western edge of the city to cut off Ukraine’s logistics at the H-26 highway. 

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