Russia’s Armed Forces are continuing efforts to reach the right bank of the Oskil River to push on Kupyansk. The situation in the city remains difficult: Ukrainian defenders have used HIMARS to hit pipeline Russian troops were using to infiltrate, but not everyone was stopped.
A representative of Ukraine’s 10th Army Corps said Ukrainian troops are defending Kupyansk, where civilians remain, while Russian forces are hitting the city with aerial bombs and artillery in an effort to disrupt logistics. In the meantime, Ukrainian fighters flooded the pipe the Russians had used to get to the right bank of the Oskil.
Information about Kupyansk emerged on the morning of September 19. The 10th Army Corps representative said the city remains a strategic objective for Russia. Russian troops are amassing near Radkivka and Holubivka, he said. Earlier, they used the Shebelinka–Astrovolsk gas pipeline. Ukrainian forces struck the exit point with HIMARS, but not always fully neutralized the threat. Some Russian soldiers managed to dart between trees, as seen in the corps’ video.
Over time, the pipeline was flooded, but Russian forces began crossing the Oskil River by other means - in boats. Ukrainian troops targeted the landing points with artillery, mortars and FPV drones.
Civilians are still in the city, which complicates Ukrainian operations, the 10th Army Corps representative added. Video released by the military shows collapsed houses in Kupyansk, blown-up cars and downed utility poles. The footage also shows strikes on Oskil’s riverbank where Russian troops had landed, and patrols tracking saboteurs in residential streets.
“The situation in the Kupyansk sector remains tense. The city is a strategic target for the enemy. The fighting is dynamic — it’s premature to spread claims of ‘full control,’” the 10th Army Corps concluded.
The DeepState battlefield map showed the latest changes around Kupyansk on September 17. Analysts reported Russian forces on the city’s northwest and northern outskirts. The distance from the “red” zone to the center is about 1 km. Data from DeepState also indicated a three-kilometer Russian advance to the east near the village of Petropavlivka.
According to Ukraine’s command, there were only eight Russian attacks in the Kupyansk sector over the past 24 hours. On the General Staff’s map, the city is shown under the full control of the Ukrainian Forces.
