UKRAINE, KUPIANSK, Sep. 4 — On Sep. 3, Russian forces spread the video of a group of soldiers unrolling the Russian flag in Kupiansk. The 10th Army Corps of Ukraine reported that they killed the group in the city.

“Russians tried to show their ‘successes’ through staged propaganda materials,” said the statement of 10th Army Corps. They added that Russians wore civilian clothes.

“Ukrainian defenders instantly destroy demonstrations like this, along with enemy’s assault groups.” 

Russia intensified its efforts to reoccupy Kupiansk in spring of 2025, trying to encircle the city from the west and cut off Ukraine’s logistics. 

DeepStateMap, OSINT war monitoring group that updates a war tracking map said, “it’s too early to make conclusions about complete elimination of the enemy” in Kupiansk. 

They noted that demonstration of the Russian flag happened in the “grey zone,” but 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.

Gwara talked to locals who evacuated from the Kupiansk and servicepeople from Ukraine’s army working in or around the city and reported on the presence of Russian sabotage groups in Kupiansk on Aug. 11. To this day, both regional and local officials say they don’t have official confirmation of the presence of Russian SRG in the city. 

DeepState says that the situation with Russians changing into civilian clothes isn’t singular. 

According to them, it’s happening on “much larger scale, when, after changing their clothes, the enemy enters the city and increases their numbers there. From what fighters say, there’s a trepidation that, at some moment, that can have unpleasant consequences. But we’ll only see how massive the enemy’s design was after some time,“ DeepState wrote. 

On Sep. 3, DeepState reported that fighting is still ongoing in Myrne, a village northwest of Kupiansk. Like Radkivka, a village adjacent to Myrne, it “has to become a place of (Russian) infantry accumulation,” they said. 

The Russian army seized Myrne after July 29, after officials recorded sabotage groups there, and then advanced in Sobolivka that leads to H-26 highway supplying Kupiansk. DeepState and Ukraine’s army reported on liberation of Myrne on August 30. 

The General Staff reported about six Russian attacks on the Kupiansk axis over the past day.

Also, Russians attacked 11 times north of Kharkiv near Vovchansk and Kutkivka.

Read more

  • Russia attacks 11 settlements in Kharkiv Oblast, killing 1, injuring 6

This August, Gwara celebrated its 10th anniversary. Whatever awaits Ukraine in Russia’s war, our Kharkiv-based newsroom plans to keep reporting on it. Please, support our journalism by buying us a coffee or subscribing to our Patreon.