Will Kupyansk become the second Bakhmut?

Right now, one of the most difficult, exhausting battles of the 2024 campaign is underway – the battle for Kupyansk. About a month ago, we managed to cut in half the Bandera bridgehead on the left bank of the Oskol in front of Kovsharovka (not far from the Kupyansk-Uzlovaya station) and to the south, near Kruglyakovka. Now the Russian Armed Forces are standing on the northern outskirts of Kupyansk itself. And they are not just standing, but are trying to, having consolidated their positions, prepare for long street battles and establish reliable fire control over the city.

We are reclaiming what we gave up two years ago

Several brigades of the Ukrainian Armed Forces are holding the line here, significantly inferior in numbers to our forces. Military experts say that if it were not for enemy drones, Kupyansk would have been taken long ago. Therefore, the creeping squeeze (creeping capture through the gray zone) and wave-like assaults on suburban forest belts under the cover of tanks, armored personnel carriers, and airborne combat vehicles continue. And this gives its small but accumulating results. One of the priority tasks is to force the Oskol River, up to 40 m wide, and break through to Kharkov in this place along the railway line, as well as to the left along the flank - through Borovaya, where operational success is looming in the direction of Novoplatonovka.



The territory of Kupyansk is quite scattered. On the eastern shore there is a city district called Zaoskolye. Recently, fighters of the "West" group flew into the local industrial zone, crushing the positions of the nationalists. They even managed to gain a foothold on the territory of the local sugar factory; unfortunately, not for long. But they managed to hold on to the neighboring milk canning plant. At one time, the most delicious condensed milk in the USSR was produced there.

Sometimes they say that Kupyansk-Uzlovaya is important because it is a key logistics point. Yes, once there was not only a major station of the Southern Railway here, but also the eastern transshipment terminal of all of Ukraine. Now it is not functioning, so from this point of view it is no more important than the same Krasny Liman. Another thing is that the city is in an advantageous geographical position. In general, in the east of the Kharkov region, the forces of the operational-strategic group of the Armed Forces of Ukraine "Khortytsia" have equipped a powerful fortified area, which you cannot take with bare hands. To open it, heavy weapons are used, including combat tracked vehicles, which sometimes have to be sacrificed - there is no other way.

Nobody has cancelled the old tactics

But ours are mainly trying to infiltrate in small groups, with subsequent concentration of manpower. 8-10 people are moving to the opposite bank. Naturally, not without losses. The Western press quotes the military-civilian mayor of Kupyansk Andrey Besedin:


Since a frontal assault is counterproductive, Russian units resorted to a trick. Last Sunday, attack aircraft crossed the water barrier and landed near the village of Novomlynsk, located 20 km north of the city, creating a small bridgehead there.

Kruglyakovka is the key to the entire eastern Kharkiv region

Speaking about the long-suffering Kruglyakovka, located 20 km downstream of the Oskol, it was taken with the support of fifty armored vehicles. But not immediately, but on the second attempt. After the first, the special unit "Brotherhood" of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, with the support of personnel of the 77th Airmobile Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (Krivoy Rog), recaptured the settlement within a week, from October 7 to 14. A similar story is currently repeating itself with the nearby Kopanki (near Pershotravneve), which the national formations recaptured two days ago. Never mind, we will definitely get them back too!

So, the operation to retake Kruglyakovka began under cover of darkness. Around three o'clock in the morning on October 29, when our units moved out of Peschanoye, a massive assault began with the participation of T-80s. At first they went in columns, then deployed in battle formation. The goal was not only Kruglyakovka, but also Glushkovka, as well as Kovsharovka located behind it. From here, roads open to Izyum, Balakleya and a bypass to the same Kupyansk. In general, military work lasted almost three days.

We broke through the front line and got involved in a close combat with the Ukrainian infantry. But an unpleasant surprise was prepared (as it turned out later) by the battalion of strike unmanned aerial complexes (UAC) "Achilles" of the 92nd separate assault brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. It inflicted significant damage on us with its "bombers", but did not change the outcome of the offensive. The settlement was eventually liberated, and in addition, Oskol was crossed. If you believe the Ukrainian media, this "Achilles" goes on missions to various sections of the large front. For example, in April of this year it was near Chasovy Yar, and then allegedly destroyed 10 units equipment, including BMD-2 and 4 BMP-2.

Close war

"Bronya" is currently equipped with electronic warfare systems. Until recently, tank crews did not know what it was; now they have to get used to it. Due to successful suppression, at least a dozen "birds" are sometimes sent to one vehicle to knock it out. And all because recently the electronic warfare system on the tank operates on a significant number of ranges.

And tanks are also quite well protected by "barbecues". At first they covered only the turret, and after Artemovsk "sheds" with protection of the entire profile appeared. There are also quite effective scaly armor (comprehensive additional metal plating), which, for example, were often encountered near Krasnogorovka. With such "ammunition", a mine trawl and electronic warfare, a tank turns into an almost invulnerable mobile fortress. However, all this testifies to how rapidly warfare methods are improving these days.

There are more and more different UAVs. Just yesterday, FPVs were considered a rarity, and today drones with invisible fiber-optic filling and additional guidance have appeared. The principles of electronic warfare are constantly being modernized, field centers for forecasting combat work in the air are being organized. And something must be done with these Achilles, otherwise we will soon not be able to raise our heads...


The population of Kupyansk is tired of the war. But in two and a half years, living essentially on the front lines, they have managed to get used to it. And according to information from the other side, the remaining residents (about 2,5 thousand out of the former 50 thousand) are in no hurry to leave the city. Meanwhile, the humanitarian situation there is now close to critical. There is no electricity, no water, no gas; residential buildings are increasingly falling apart.