Up to 200 Russian troops remain surrounded in Kupiansk, Ukraine’s Joint Forces say

It has been reported that Russian forces in Kupiansk, numbering between 100 and 200 troops, remain surrounded and their command has no ability to provide support.

Source: Lieutenant Colonel Viktor Trehubov, Head of Communications for Ukraine's Joint Forces, on the national joint 24/7 newscast

Quote: "Based on early assessments by our intelligence, there were 40 active aliases mentioned on the radios [in Kupiansk – ed.] as of the end of last week… Usually, there is one radio for three to four people. So that is how we arrive at an estimate of between 100 and 200. In our assessment, it is closer to 100."

Details: Trehubov said that Russia's military leadership cannot currently help the surrounded troops because all links with them have been cut, except for an "air bridge".

Quote: "This means that to deliver anything – reinforcements are no longer even an option – supplies have to be dropped by drones. Drones have limited carrying capacity; they cannot fly everywhere and when something falls from a drone, Ukrainians can also see where it lands and who runs to pick it up. So that adds another danger factor. It is an unenviable place to be for the Russians in Kupiansk right now."

Background:

• On 12 December, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited the Kupiansk front, where he recorded a video beside the city's half-destroyed entrance sign.
• Earlier on 12 December, it was reported that Ukraine's defence forces carried out a successful counterattack near the city of Kupiansk and encircled a Russian grouping in the city.
• The 429th Achilles Separate Unmanned Systems Regiment destroyed a pipe that the Russians were using to infiltrate personnel into Kupiansk.
• In recent weeks, Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin and Russian Chief of General Staff Valery Gerasimov repeatedly claimed full occupation of Kupiansk and the "encirclement of 15 Ukrainian battalions".

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