Russian troops are getting a hard lesson in retreat as they’re nearly booted out of Kupyansk, a strategic Ukrainian city in the northeast.
Russian forces are teetering on the edge of complete expulsion from this vital rail and road hub in the Kharkiv region, with only a handful of isolated soldiers left clinging to their positions.
In 2022, Russian forces briefly seized Kupyansk during the opening salvos of their full-scale invasion, only to lose it later that year to a determined Ukrainian liberation effort.
Despite Moscow’s territorial ambitions, Ukrainian officials note that the city was never fully under Russian control again after that initial setback, except for that fleeting early grip.
Fast forward to now, and the situation for the remaining Russian units—numbering just a few dozen, including foreign mercenaries—is nothing short of dire.
Reports indicate these stranded troops are cut off from steady supply lines, scraping by on meager air drops that can’t sustain them for long.
“Supply by air bridge alone is not something that allows them to hold out for long,” said Viktor Trehubov, head of communications for Ukraine’s Joint Forces grouping, in a televised briefing on Ukrainian state media.
Well, Viktor, if you’re relying on airdrops in a war zone, you might as well be waiting for a pizza delivery during a blizzard—good luck with that strategy.
Even Kremlin-friendly voices are throwing in the towel, with Russian military bloggers and correspondents admitting that Kupyansk has slipped from their grasp.
“An entire wave of messages appeared saying that Kupyansk is gone,” Trehubov noted during the briefing. “Even Russian propagandists have switched to a line acknowledging that the city is no longer under their control.”
Sorry, Moscow, but when your own cheerleaders start singing the blues, it’s not just a PR problem—it’s a full-blown reality check.
Adding salt to the wound, a recent Ukrainian counteroffensive has thrown Russian attempts to stabilize the front into chaos, leaving their daily assaults along the Kupyansk axis toothless and understaffed.
Combat rages on outside the city, especially across the Oskil River, but Ukrainian forces firmly hold the urban center, repelling multiple attacks in nearby areas like Petropavlivka and Pishchane.
For conservatives watching this unfold, it’s a bittersweet moment—while we cheer any pushback against authoritarian overreach, we can’t ignore the endless drain on resources that could be rebuilding American infrastructure instead of foreign battlefields.
