Trehubov Says Russian Infiltration Into Kupiansk Stopped After Pipeline Shutdown
Ukrainian spokesman says no effective infiltration recorded since Operation Veles disabled the pipeline used for covert movement.
By Julia Novak ·
Viktor Trehubov, spokesman for the Joint Forces Group, said Ukrainian and Russian troops are both operating inside Kupiansk in Kharkiv Oblast, with small Russian groups having reached the city's northern districts and taken up positions there. He spoke on live TV, as reported by Ukrinform.
Russian units entered the city along several routes, including through the village of Holubivka, and tried to set up in northern residential areas. "After the Russians had effectively been driven out of Kupiansk once, and after they managed to create what they saw as a grey zone in Holubivka and use the pipeline, they were able to infiltrate the northern districts with a certain number of troops, several dozen, roughly, and establish positions there," Trehubov said. He described a number of several dozen troops. [NOTE: source uses an en dash in the quote; retained as direct quote]
Trehubov said Operation Veles targeted the pipeline Russian forces had used to move covertly into the Kupiansk front. Since that operation, he said, no further effective Russian infiltrations toward Kupiansk have been recorded.
Trehubov contrasted the state of Kupiansk with Vovchansk, where he said buildings have been leveled. Kupiansk still has structures that can serve as shelters and launch sites, he said, and general infrastructure remains usable.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy previously commented on Operation Veles, during which Ukraine's defence forces, under the command of the Khartiia Corps, advanced more than 15 km underground into the Russian rear. Zelenskyy said Russian forces had tried to use underground gas infrastructure to move through Ukrainian positions and launch assaults. "Ukrainian warriors have successfully transformed this tactic, modernised it, and made it much more sophisticated and technologically advanced. We are protecting the lives of our people, inflicting losses on the occupiers, and achieving our objectives in the Kupiansk sector," he wrote.
Trehubov said both Ukrainian troops and Russian units remain in Kupiansk.
