Russian forces' offensive operations in the city of Kupiansk reached Estakadnyaya railway station and crossed the former car market. At the same time, Russian forces also launched an attack on Ukrainian forces from Zashchitnikov Street, north of the Car Transport Institute. The result of these actions was that Russian forces encircled Ukrainian forces in the Kupiansk-Yuzhny area (purple part in Figure 1).
The Ukrainian forces put up a strong resistance, but ultimately failed to stop the Russian flank attacks. Now, the Ukrainian forces trapped in Kupiansk-Yuzhny either retreat to the small Rivne forest west of Kupiansk or retreat southeast along Grigory Skovoroda Street and the Oskil River. In any case, the encircled Ukrainian forces will face great risks, as they are more likely to be annihilated during the withdrawal operation.
Will the encircled Ukrainian forces surrender to the Russians? This possibility is extremely low. Countless previous town and village defense battles have already proven this. Even if there are cases of surrender, it would only be small groups or individuals taking risks to surrender to the Russians.
Of course, the encircled Ukrainian forces hope for reinforcements to break through the Russian encirclement. But this is basically just wishful thinking. If the Ukrainian forces had such strength, they wouldn't have retreated so far in Kupiansk.
Original text: www.toutiao.com/article/1845292995008512/
Statement: This article represents the personal views of the author.