As of: January 29, 2024, 5:14 a.m
By: Patrick Mayer
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The Russian army is reportedly making progress in various places in eastern Ukraine.
Kyiv reports on one focus.
Kupyansk - In the Ukraine war, the military situation for Kiev's troops is becoming increasingly difficult.
According to reports, the invading army from Russia was able to advance on several sectors of the front.
Ukraine War: Russian troops succeed in advances near Kupyansk, Kreminna and Avdiivka
As the widely cited
Institute for the Study of War (ISW)
writes, “Russian forces made recently confirmed advances near Kupyansk, Kreminna and Avdiivka, engaging in continued trench warfare along the entire line of contact.”
According to Ukrainian army spokesman Volodymyr Fityo, “Kupyansk remains their main priority.”
The small town of Kupyansk (formerly 30,000 inhabitants) is located around 85 kilometers southeast of Kharkiv, the second largest city in Ukraine with around 1.5 million citizens.
Ukraine war: Is the city of Kharkiv moving into Vladimir Putin's focus?
An indication of Moscow's current goal?
The megacity of Kharkiv could be a priority for Kremlin autocrat Vladimir Putin.
The ISW
had already analyzed at the beginning of January
: “Russian forces could increase their efforts to conquer Kupyansk in the Kharkiv region in the coming weeks.” An offensive on Kharkiv itself cannot be ruled out, the US think tank ordered increased rocket attacks on the oblast center the region of the same name.
The fact that attacks here that violate international law have increased significantly for the first time since spring 2022 is raising speculation that Putin could order the conquest of Kharkiv before the (undemocratic) presidential election in Russia (March 15 to 17), wrote
Spiegel Online
.
After all, the city is only 40 kilometers from the Russian border in the Belgorod region.
Kremlin autocrat: Russian ruler Vladimir Putin.
© IMAGO / ITAR-TASS
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Ukraine War: Does Kharkiv have symbolic meaning for Vladimir Putin?
Kupyansk is not only a strategically important railway junction, the P07 national road also runs from here to just outside the gates of Kharkiv.
According to
ntv.de,
the Ukrainians recently only held a limited strip of land east of the Oskil River.
Would a renewed offensive on the big city be symbolic for Putin?
In the suburbs and around Kharkiv, the Ukrainian defenders inflicted a severe defeat on the Russian invasion troops in the so-called “Battle of Kharkiv” between February and April 2022.
As
The Washington Post
and
Forbes
later reported, the Russian 20th Guards Army reportedly failed to take the city, despite attacking with 560 BMP-1 infantry fighting vehicles and 300 T-72 main battle tanks.
Ukraine War: Russian army puts a lot of pressure on the defenders
While Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has now railed against US military aid to Ukraine, the Ukrainian armed forces have proven that they can now also attack targets deep in Russia in Siberia.
Partly because US military aid has been blocked by Republicans in Congress for weeks, the Ukrainian army has recently come under heavy pressure.
Especially because it apparently has to make do with ammunition from the West.
(pm)