PostedSeptember 19, 2022, 10:01 PM
War in UkraineOn the eastern front, a pocket of Russian resistance in Kupyansk
In the Kharkiv region, the Ukrainian army continues to advance. But the Russian forces still control a good part of Koupiansk, a city of 58,000 inhabitants before the war.
On the west bank of the Oskil River, in the part of Koupiansk reconquered by the Ukrainian army, a wrecked car in Russian “colors” bears witness to the violence of the fighting.
AFP
Near Kharkiv, Ukrainian forces say they recaptured thousands of square kilometers from Russian forces this month. But in the city of Kupiansk, split in two by the Oskil River, their enemy clings. On the west bank, reconquered by the Ukrainian army, propaganda signs hung by Vladimir Putin’s party, United Russia, are still visible above shops with gutted windows, while artillery fire is regular To hear.
The Kharkiv region, bordering Russia, was partially occupied by Moscow from the start of the invasion, launched on February 24. However, at the beginning of September, the Ukrainians pushed back the Russians there thanks to a counter-offensive.
In Koupiansk, a railway junction, kyiv’s troops are still fighting: the Russians are entrenched on the other side, where most of the fighting takes place. On Monday, a stream of civilians sought to flee the bombed city, where water and electricity have been missing for a week, according to residents. “It was impossible to stay where we lived. There were shots every hour,” says Lioudmila, 56.
Halt the supply of Russian forces
Most of the fire heard on Monday came from Ukrainian tanks and artillery, but as a small unit of soldiers from kyiv advanced towards a bridge painted in the red-white-blue colors of Russia, a fierce exchange of rockets and shell burst. The Ukrainian soldiers took cover under a gutted brick building. Nearby, a sign proclaims: “We are with Russia. A nation.”
Military experts estimate that a Ukrainian reconquest of Kupyansk, which had 58,000 inhabitants before the war, would make it more difficult to supply Russian forces deployed further south, to protect their gains in the industrial basin of Donbass, a priority strategic objective of the Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The quad, the best means of transport
Kupyansk is also a road crossing point of the Oskil River, and several of its bridges have been damaged in the fighting. A bearded Ukrainian doctor riding a quad, he says is the best vehicle for negotiating cracked and twisted bridges, says he brought an injured civilian back from the other side, his third in two days.
“The Ukrainians are closing in, but there are still Russian troops in some parts of the city.”
As families cower by the side of the road on the west bank of the city, waiting for transportation, a Ukrainian tank on a small hill fires shells over their homes, aiming at the Russians in the east of town. “The Ukrainians are getting closer, but there are still Russian troops in some parts of the city,” confirms Olena Glushko, a 33-year-old resident.
Ukrainian troops are now ubiquitous in the city, speeding into rebuilt civilian vehicles or marching in line with sacks of supplies. When Olena first saw them, after six months of Russian occupation, she was devastated. “I wanted to burst into tears and laugh at the same time,” she concludes.
(AFP)