New Russian gains north, east of Kupiansk reported by war monitoring group

UKRAINE, KUPIANSK AXIS, Sep. 18 — Russian troops advanced in Kivsharivka, a partially occupied village north of Kupiansk, and Stepova Novosilka southeast of Kupiansk, reports DeepState monitoring group. 

Russian troops intensified their offensive in the Kupiansk direction this August: they are trying to encirle the city and, at the same time, keep attempting to tranfer the heavy equipment across Oskil River north of the city.

“Information about combat in the center (of Kupiansk) city isn’t true,” said Oleksii Belskyi, spokesperson for the “Dnipro” operational-strategic group, in a comment to RBK-Ukraine. 

Earlier, On Sep. 17, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) reported that geolocated footage published on Sep. 16 indicates that Russian forces recently advanced to Sadova Street in central Kupiansk. DeepState indicated Russian advances in the north of the city on the 17th.

Yurii Fedorenko, commander of the “Achilles” regimen, told Suspilne on Sep. 17 that urban fighting with Russian sabotage groups was happening in Kupiansk. He said that, as of the morning of Sep. 17, Russian troops didn’t control any part of the city. 

This August, evacuated locals told Gwara journalists that they saw Russian soldiers dressed up as civilians in the city. The military working in Kupiansk also confirmed the presence of the Russian troops in the city back then. 

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