UKRAINE, KUPIANSK, Apr. 23 — Russian troops get “slightly” closer to Kupiansk, said Viktor Trehubov, spokesman for the military group responsible for Kharkiv oblast, live on Ukraine’s state TV.  

“The distance between Russian positions and Kupiansk got smaller,” Trehubov said. He explained that Russian troops are using the new, now effective, tree cover in their attempts to infiltrate the city from the north. “Now it’s necessary to repel them more actively.” 

Trehubov said that, though the Russian Defense Ministry’s claims about Kupiansk being controlled by Ukrainian troops is a “drug-fueled delirium,” Russians very much want it to be true. “They are just giving voice to their desires for the next months,” Trehubov said. 

Last year, Russians managed to infiltrate Kupiansk in the summer of 2025, and, by the start of the autumn, the situation in the city got complicated. Ukraine had to organize a special operation to push Moscow’s troops out of the city — it’s reported to have ended in success, with Russian troops killed or trapped in the northern part of the city. 

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