Ukrainian forces have pushed back Russian troops from Kupiansk in Kharkiv Oblast and maintain control over the situation on the town’s outskirts, Nazar Voloshyn, the spokesperson for the Khortytsia group of forces, said on Nov. 26.

Russian troops ramped up their efforts near Kupiansk in early September and approached the city’s industrial outskirts in the northeast. Earlier in November, Ukrainian forces successfully repelled Russian attempts to break into the city.

The crowd-sourced monitoring website DeepState also reported on Nov. 26 that Ukrainian forces had completed clearing Kupiansk of Russian soldiers.

Speaking on national television, Voloshyn said that Russia uses small groups in an attempt to cross to the right bank of the Oskil River.

"Even if groups of eight to ten people manage to cross, only two or three from each group reach the (right) bank. The enemy has been eliminated there as well," he said.

"Everything there (in Kupiansk) is under the control of our Defense Forces."

Kupiansk is a key logistics and railway hub in the eastern part of Kharkiv Oblast. With several highways and five railway lines running through it, the town was briefly occupied by Russian forces before it was liberated during a successful Ukrainian counteroffensive in the autumn of 2022.

Capturing the city would widen the north-to-south supply route from Russia’s Belgorod Oblast, fuelling their attempt to take the entire Donbas region.

Nearly 22,000 civilians have been evacuated from Kharkiv Oblast in 6 months, governor says“We are continuing evacuation efforts, bringing both children and adults to safety,” Kharkiv Oblast Governor Oleh Syniehubov said on air.The Kyiv IndependentOlena Goncharova