Ukrainian forces continue counterattacking in the Kupyansk direction as Russian ultranationalist milbloggers acknowledge the severity of the situation for Russian forces. ⬇️

- Ukrainian Joint Forces Group Spokesperson Colonel Viktor Trehubov reported on December 15 that Ukrainian forces continue clearing operations within Kupyansk and are avoiding engaging in urban combat, and that Russian forces are using unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to supply the grouping of around 100 to 200 Russian personnel left within Kupyansk. Trehubov implied that the Russian forces’ logistical situation is complicated in Kupyansk because UAVs have a limited carrying capacity, cannot fly over certain areas, and occasionally drop supplies in a way that exposes Russian positions to Ukrainian forces. A non-commissioned officer (NCO) of a Ukrainian brigade operating in the Kupyansk direction reported that Ukrainian forces have liberated several settlements and nearby forest areas, and that elements of his brigade are operating within northern Kupyansk. The NCO stated that Russian forces continue attempting infiltration missions to reinforce positions in Kupyansk through a gas pipeline, but that Ukrainian forces have blocked the pipeline and have all possible egress points under fire control. Geolocated footage published on December 14 and 15 indicates that Russian forces likely do not hold positions within Petropavlivka (east of Kupyansk), contrary to Russian claims of advances in the area.

- Russian milbloggers continued to acknowledge that the situation for Russian forces in Kupyansk is deteriorating. A milblogger claimed that Russian forces hold some positions in northern and central Kupyansk but that the rest of the city is either a contested “gray zone” or Ukrainian-held. Another milblogger claimed that the situation for Russian forces in western Kupyansk is rapidly worsening; that elements of the Russian 68th Motorized Rifle Division (6th Combined Arms Army [CAA], Leningrad Military District [LMD]) are “desperately fighting” and acknowledged that Ukrainian forces advanced within Kupyansk and Myrove (immediately northwest of Kupyansk). The milblogger claimed that Russian forces no longer have manpower superiority in the area and that Ukrainian interdiction efforts are hindering Russian operations. The milblogger stated that Ukrainian gains in Kupyansk have forced Russian drone operators to withdraw from the area to the east (left) bank of the Oskil River.

The Kremlin has been leveraging cUkrainian-heldlaims of advances in and near Kupyansk for a cognitive warfare effort designed to portray the Ukrainian lines as on the verge of collapse, such that Ukraine and the West should concede to Russia’s demands, and the Ukrainian counterattacks in the Kupyansk direction continue to demonstrate that to be false.

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