Kyiv [Ukraine], November 27: Kiev's military has warned of the danger that Russia might again try to seize Kupyansk in Ukraine's Kharkiv region, as Moscow's forces continue their offensive in the east of the embattled country.
"The Russian occupiers have not given up their intention to attack the city of Kupyansk, they want to occupy it again," Ukrainian army spokesman VolodymyrFityo said on television on Sunday.
Russian troops have regained the initiative in north-east Ukraine in recent weeks and have been able to make territorial gains. The fighting is now taking place around the village of Synkivka, a few kilometres north-east of Kupyansk, Fityo said. The Ukrainian military has repelled four Russian attacks in this area.Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Last autumn, Ukraine managed to liberate large parts of the Kharkiv region, including the key Kupyansk railway junction on the Oskil River, as part of its counteroffensive.
The Ukrainians crossed the river and drove the Russian occupiers back into the neighbouring Luhansk region. Since then though, the battle line has mostly returned to the Kharkiv region.
Further south, in the eastern Ukrainian region of Donetsk, the Ukrainian military is also on the defensive, with the situation around Avdiivka particularly difficult.
Russian military bloggers say Moscow's forces have managed to make further gains in the industrial area of the city. Kiev has not yet commented on these reports.
Source: Qatar Tribune