“I Think Ukrainian Forces’ Operation in Kupiansk Is Entering Its Final Phase,” Tregubov on Situation in Kupiansk

Ukrainian forces are completing the Kupiansk operation, surrounding fewer than 100 Russians. Despite intensified attacks, occupiers face supply issues and are likely to surrender soon.

In Kupiansk, the operation to clear the city of Russian forces, which began in the fall, is nearing its end — according to military estimates, fewer than a hundred Russians remain there. They are completely surrounded and are facing supply issues, even by air. At the same time, Russian commanders have been tasked with capturing Kupiansk by February 2026.

This was reported on January 3 by the spokesperson for the Joint Forces Group, Viktor Tregubov, to Suspilne Kharkiv.

“They will most likely just surrender en masse at some point.”

Tregubov calls the situation in Kupiansk positive. He says that some Russian soldiers remain in the city — radio intercepts show about 30 Russians by their call signs, though one radio may be used by two or three people.

“There are still individual enemy soldiers there, but they are completely surrounded. They are already facing major problems even with receiving any supplies, even via an ‘air bridge,’ because we can clearly see where everything is landing. I would say this is the final phase of clearing the city. And, in principle, even some Russian media figures quietly acknowledge this,” Tregubov told Suspilne.

The Russians still remaining in Kupiansk are mostly hiding in basements in the central and northwestern parts of the city, Tregubov said.

There are now definitely fewer than a hundred — there was about a hundred recently — and they’re disappearing, a few at a time each day. I think they will most likely just surrender en masse at some point, because it is absolutely clear to them by now that there is no future for them there and that no one will pull them out.

“The Russians’ task is to capture Kupiansk by February”

Capturing Kupiansk by February 2026 is the task that, according to the spokesperson for the Joint Forces Group, the higher Russian command has set for its commanders.

“So, to take the very same city they supposedly already captured. And this task was set by the same person named Kuzovlev. He has already received the Hero of Russia star once for this. Presumably, he wants another star — maybe posthumously, I don’t know. But that’s really the situation. It’s a kind of Russian news from an alternative reality,” Tregubov said.

The spokesperson says that the Russians are bringing in forces north of Kupiansk in an attempt to infiltrate the city again.

If we look at their attempts to approach or infiltrate the city from the north, they have had absolutely no success. They are trying now, but no, it’s not working. They are more active and have more, so to speak, logistical capabilities on the left bank of the Oskil River. There, they are actively pushing, trying to reduce or destroy the Ukrainian bridgehead on the left bank — also without success so far, but at least, let’s say, it’s easier for them to apply effort there.

“In the last few days, it’s mostly more of a regrouping for the Russians rather than any active operations. Maybe they’re drinking for the New Year holidays, but there have been slightly fewer clashes than before, and accordingly, the casualty statistics are a bit lower than they were. But we can see that they are preparing and will become active very soon,” Tregubov added.

Increased shelling in Kupiansk

In recent days, the Russians have intensified strikes on Kupiansk, Trehubov said. Mostly, for attacks on the city, the Russian army has been using FAB bombs, according to him.

“The best way to counter a FAB is to destroy the aircraft itself, preferably while it’s still on the airfield. Right now, our situation is such that they are being launched from afar, and for obvious reasons, our planes don’t fly directly over the front line. So yes, this is a problem, but let’s say, they are not as effective as the Russians would like. They’re rather inaccurate, even though their power is significant,” the spokesperson said.

They certainly will not destroy all the buildings. They are doing this simply to increase casualties among Ukrainian units. It must be understood that this is not such a tiny city that it can be reduced to nothing by shelling in a matter of days or even weeks. Take Vovchansk, which is much smaller — they have been destroying it for almost two years. One simply has to understand that the scale is different.

Clearing operation in Kupiansk: what is known

On November 20, it became known that the Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, Valery Gerasimov, reported to Putin that Kupiansk had been captured and that Russian forces were “continuing the destruction of Ukrainian Armed Forces units surrounded on the left bank of the Oskil River.”

After that, Vladimir Putin claimed that approximately 15 Ukrainian battalions were allegedly blocked in the Kupiansk-Vuzlovyi area. The Joint Forces Group denied this information.

On December 12, it became known that the Defense Forces had blocked Russian occupiers in Kupiansk and cleared the entire northwestern outskirts of the city. Ukrainian soldiers destroyed 1,027 Russian servicemen, liberated the villages of Kindrashivka and Radkivka and their surrounding areas, and reached the Oskil River north of Kupiansk, completely cutting off the occupiers’ ground routes into the city.

On December 12, Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited Kupiansk. It was known that about 200 occupiers were blocked in the city — their number estimated by the number of active radios in the city.

On December 21, the head of the Communications Department of the Joint Forces Group, Viktor Tregubov, said on Suspilne that the occupiers were losing their presence in the city, but on the left bank of the Oskil, they were trying to push back Ukrainian forces without success.

On December 22, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told journalists at the Diplomatic Academy of Ukraine under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs that approximately 80–100 Russians remained in Kupiansk.

On December 28, Viktor Tregubov, head of the Communications Department of the Joint Forces Group, said on Suspilne that the clearing of Kupiansk from Russian forces could continue for several more weeks, as “small pockets” of occupiers were still hiding in the city.

EMPR