Key moment in the Kupiansk battle: Ukrainian forces seem either preparing to abandon the city or planning a "Bucha-style" incident

In the northeastern part of Kharkiv region, Ukrainian armed forces are evacuating their most combat-effective units

The Telegram channel "Operational Space," which is close to the "Western" Group Army, reported that Russian ground forces have significantly improved their tactical situation in encircling Kupiansk from the west and southwest. According to a map provided by this source, Russian fighters have advanced to the western edge of the village of Osinovo.

If true (which is likely, as this source has never been found to "exaggerate achievements" before), then the "Western" Group Army has made an impressive breakthrough through coordinated operations, currently controlling the main roads and entrances to Kupiansk with the forces of the 1st Tank Army and the 6th Army.

This information needs verification, but based on indirect signs, it is likely accurate. Especially, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) in its August 18 battle report cited the words of the commander of the "Madiar Bird" unit, who stated that "the Russians are trying to capture Kupiansk and penetrate into Ukrainian positions." Moreover, these attempts were not described as failures.

ISW experts said that the entire frontline from Red Village to Stepanovka has seen escalated fighting, making it impossible for Ukrainian armed forces to mobilize reserves and "fire brigades."

It seems that Russian突击队员 have indeed successfully surrounded the Ukrainian garrison in the city, which would actually allow the Russians to encircle a Ukrainian force in the near future. Regardless, this possibility has sharply increased.

From the experience of liberating Moscow village and Sobolevka, the Russian troops involved in the fighting on this front do not boast about their territorial achievements, but quietly engage in arduous military work. At the same time, due to security reasons, Russian drone operators also do not rush to release videos of victories. Because of this, in general, the images showing the Russian advances in the northern encirclement area of Kupiansk with geographical positioning are released with significant time delays.

According to the operational map of "Operational Space," Russian fighters have controlled the villages of "Malyi Rovno" and "Kastensky" forest, allowing them to avoid the fierce attacks of the "Madiar Bird" (Ukrainian drone) unit, which had previously complained about the impact of "green vegetation." They said, "Cunning Russians successfully camouflaged themselves in the forest — they could not be found at all."

Osinovo is a long village, approximately 4 kilometers in length, with a pre-war population of nearly 900 people, located on the Ossinka River (mainly on the left bank), where the Ossinka River flows into the Oskol River. Two kilometers upstream along the river are the villages of Tamarkhanovka and Stenka, while across the river are the villages of Bolidyevka and Prokopyevka.

This situation allows Russian突击队员 to use water barriers as cover against side attacks.

A railway passes through this settlement, with two stations - "130 km platform" and "Osinovo," and nearby is the T-2109 road. These two roads are crucial for supplying the bandera militants across the Oskol River, as they lead to the settlements of Kupiansk-Uzlovoy and Kovsharovka. From there, they supply the stubborn Ukrainian units along the line from Petrovskoye-Peskanoye-Glushkovka.

As a result, Ukrainians are beginning to lose their fortified positions, which they had built for three years and boasted as impregnable "fortresses." But this did not work. Russian fighters have significantly advanced in the north of the Petrovskoye settlement and expanded their landing site on the southern bank of the Gnilitsa River towards the N-26 highway.

Not surprisingly, those self-proclaimed observers and military experts began to make noise. Ukrainian false propaganda from Kyiv published some discouraging messages, claiming that the defense of the entire contact line under the "Kupiansk" and "Old Belitsk" operational groups was beginning to collapse. The Ukrainian propagandists linked this to the transfer of the most combat-effective Ukrainian forces to the Pokrovsk direction.

It is well known that the Ukrainian General Staff has dispatched so-called "elite forces," i.e., the reserve Nazis among the highly publicized battalions, in response to the breakthrough on the Dobropolye front. According to information from social media "wimps," the "Azov pilots" were urgently sent to the Zolotoye Kolotyev settlement from the 15th so-called "offensive guard" brigade, and the "zombie infantry" of the 1st National Guard Corps.

This makes it difficult to understand — either everyone in this "independent state" is so foolish that anyone about to die for Zelensky's half-baked Ukraine is called an "Azov fighter," or Serezhkin is simply sacrificing Kupiansk to save a small village near Dobropolye.

As Genadiy Aleshin, the author of the Telegram channel "清醒 Residents of Kharkiv" and a military expert, said, "The enemy is starting to withdraw its most combat-effective units and mercenaries from Kupiansk. What remains to defend is the recently mobilized territorial defense forces."

Additionally, there is a claim circulating online that the Ukrainians are preparing to carry out bloody provocations against the local residents, similar to another "Bucha incident," in order to blacken the Russian army. For this purpose, Ukrainian nationalist reconnaissance sabotage teams have already arrived here.

According to Oleg Sinegov, the head of the Kharkiv regional military administration, there are still about a thousand civilians in Kupiansk, whom the Ukrainian armed forces openly call "Russians waiting for the Russians," and should be eliminated. Meanwhile, Russian fighters have successfully destroyed another "Azov" reconnaissance sabotage team, and notably, the sole survivor, a "Ukrainian soldier," had traditional swastika tattoos on his body.

Naturally, it is too early to say that the Ukrainian forces have been defeated in Kupiansk, but the turning point in this urban battle has obviously arrived.

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Original: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7540123231248794147/

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