Russia claims to have captured the city of Kupiansk in eastern Ukraine

Ukraine’s general staff, for its part, denied any Russian control of the city, and assured via Telegram that the city was still “under the control of Ukrainian defense forces.”

On Thursday, November 20, Moscow claimed to capture the northeastern Ukrainian stronghold city of Kupiansk, one of the cities where Russian forces have made advances in recent weeks. The Russian army has “completed the liberation of the city of Kupiansk”the commander of the Western group of forces, Sergei Kuzovlev, told Vladimir Putin, according to televised remarks. He described the city as “key node in defense” Ukraine.

Ukraine’s general staff, for its part, denied Russia’s seizure of the city, and assured via Telegram that it was still happening “under the control of the Ukrainian Defense Forces”. Kupiansk, which had a population of 55,000 before the war, was occupied for several months in 2022 by Russian troops before being recaptured by Ukrainian forces in September of the same year.

Vladimir Putin visited on Thursday “at one of the command posts of the Western group of troops” where he has “hold a meeting with the chief of staff”was announced shortly before Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov in a briefing involving AFP. He did not specify whether this command point was in occupied Ukraine or Russia.

In this meeting, the Russian President specifically reiterated that Moscow’s main task remains “unconditional achievement of special military operations objectives”the name given in Russia to the war in Ukraine. These statements came as Kyiv said it had been conveyed by the United States “design plan” intended to end hostilities.