Situation in Kupiansk direction: occupiers trying to move units in through Holubivka along Oskil River – Trehubov
Russian troops in the Kupiansk direction are trying to move units in through Holubivka along the Oskil River.
Viktor Trehubov, head of the Communications Department of the Joint Forces Task Force, said this during a television broadcast, Censor.NET reports, citing Ukrinform.
Russian presence is declining
"If we take the west bank, the Russians are now trying to maintain a presence in the city’s northern districts by moving units in through Holubivka, small groups, in fact, along the Oskil River. At the same time, their bridgehead west of the river is becoming narrower and narrower under strikes by Ukrainian forces. Accordingly, doing so is becoming increasingly difficult. Therefore, the Russian presence there is declining," the spokesperson noted.
According to him, Ukrainian efforts are aimed at destroying the waves of advancing Russian troops trying to break through to the Kupiansk hub.
Trehubov added that in areas closer to the Southern Slobozhanskyi direction, the Russians are looking for gaps along the border.
"The Russians are trying, as part of their task of creating a control zone (a continuous control zone in the Ukrainian border area) to enter Ukrainian territory and find somewhere to gain a foothold. They have not had much luck with this plan. Therefore, we have isolated penetrations in the Southern Slobozhanskyi and Velykyi Burluk directions, but they have not advanced farther into settlements," the spokesperson said.
It is noted that the Russians often establish positions in forest belts.
"At the same time, what has been very characteristic of the Russians lately is that they are trying to portray this, specifically in this direction, as some fantastic achievements, as if they had reached settlements. Regarding control over Kozacha Lopan, we even heard statements from Putin about control over Sviatohirsk, where the second line actually lies. However, Russian official statistics and reality now have nothing in common and have lost any connection whatsoever," Trehubov stated.
Rotation of occupiers
Regarding whether Russian rotations, buildups, or transfers of units from one direction to another had been recorded, Trehubov said they were taking place, but these were standard rotations.
"But since elections in Russia will not take place until the end of September (and these are some kind of simulation of elections), there will be nothing major there, and, frankly, we do not expect anything. That is, these are the same standard rotations that continued throughout the summer, when new troops were simply brought in to reinforce those already there," he explained.
