UKRAINE, KUPIANSK AXIS, Oct. 24 — Russian forces advanced northeast of Kupiansk along Pivdenna Railroad and in western Dvorichna, a settlement north of the city, reports Institute for the Study of War (ISW), referring to geolocation footage published on Oct. 22. 

Russian advance on Kupiansk intensified this summer. Currently, the city is closed for everyone except the military as the Russian soldiers poured into it from the north and northeast, and have recently advanced through the center. 

Map indicating Russian advance on Kupiansk axis
Map indicating Russian advance on Kupiansk axis / Photo: ISW

At the beginning of the week, the DeepState war monitoring project wrote of Russians being able to amass enough infantry in Kupiansk to move to the south of the city.

“The following days will be decisive for the fate of Kupiansk,” DeepState war monitoring group wrote on Oct. 20. “Either Ukraine’s defence forces will find reserves to stabilise, or, sadly, the enemy will amass a critical number of infantry.”

Ukraine’s military believes the Russian goal in Kupiansk is to seize the city and Kupiansk-Vuzlovy, a major railway hub that would allow them to transport heavy equipment across the Oskil river. 

Dvoricha, a settlement in the north of the Kupiansk axis, was partially occupied during spring. Seizing it fully allowed Russian infantry to cross Oskil and move towards Kupiansk from the north. 

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