Russians Keep Trying to Recapture Kupyansk

Russian troops have not let up in their attempts to recapture Ukraine’s Kupyansk in the Kharkiv region. 

Kupyansk was one of the first places in Ukraine to fall at the onset of Russia’s 2022 invasion. Six months later however, it was recaptured by Ukraine.

The Kremlin wants “victories” and “political bonuses” before its “elections,” Ukrainian army spokesman Volodymyr Fityo said in a televised interview Saturday.

“And since there are no victories at the moment, the instruction to go to the borders of Donetsk and Luhansk regions have already been given 100-500 times. One of the directions is the city of Kupyansk, which remains on the daily agenda of the Russian occupation army,” he said.

Russian presidential elections are scheduled for March 2024. According to a Reuters report last week, Russian President Vladimir Putin plans to run in them.

Putin has been in power in Russia since 1999 and has already been labeled a “dictator” by the Parliamentary Assembly Council of Europe. That said, elections continue to be held in Russia and there can sometimes be unrest around them.

Another Russian goal is to reach the Oskil River in the north of the Kharkiv region. But attempts have so far been unsuccessful, Fityo said. 

“At the moment, the enemy has no strategic successes in the area of ​​responsibility of the Khortytsia air defense system,” Fityo said.

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Fityo also said that there have also been several Russian attacks in the Bakhmut sector. 

Russian troops are trying to probe Ukraine’s defenses for weak points, he said.

According to the General Staff, over the course of Saturday, in the Bakhmut sector, Ukrainian soldiers repelled 10 attacks in the Khromovoy, Andriivka, and Klishchiivka districts of the Donetsk region. 

The Russian army continues to try to surround Avdiivka. 

“The offensive actions of the enemy in the areas of Avdiivka, Severna, Tonenke and Pervomaiske settlements of the Donetsk region were unsuccessful, where the Defense Forces repelled 18 attacks,” Ukraine’s General staff reported.

Meanwhile, Ukraine continued its assault south of Bakhmut, it reported.