UKRAINE, KHARKIV OBLAST, Oct. 1 — Russian troops captured 36.8 square kilometers in the Kupiansk axis in September. Across the entire frontline, the Russian army captured 259 square kilometers — their slowest pace of occupation since May, declining by almost 50% compared to August, said the DeepState OSINT war monitoring group. 

Russian troops occupied 44% less territory than in August — but the total of lands occupied amounted during September amounted to 0.4% of Ukrainian territories. Now, 19,4% of Ukraine is under occupation. 

Analysts have correlated the area of territories Russia occupied in September and corresponding ratio of assault operations along the frontlines. 

On the Kupiansk axis, Russians occupied 14% of all occupied territories in September with 4% of all assault operations dedicated to that direction. 

The Novopavlivsky axis is the most problematic for Ukrainian forces. Here, Russians make the most gains with the fewer assault efforts applied. 

“The Kupiansk axis became a leader of anti-top, and if the Ukrainian military had not made the right decisions in time, it would have been a tragedy. But it’s too early to say that the threat has passed,” said DeepState analysts. 

Currently, access to Kupiansk is restricted to anyone except the military. Ukrainian forces are attempting to push away the Russian sabotage groups that entered the city. 

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