The Ukrainian army announced today that its troops have full control over the city of Kupyansk in northeastern Ukraine and that Ukrainian forces have stopped the Russian advance towards the railway hub, Reuters reports.
A Russian official earlier said Moscow's forces were gaining a foothold on the outskirts of the city.
Kupyansk was captured by Russian forces in the early days of the February 2022 invasion and retaken by Ukrainian troops in a swift counteroffensive a few months later.
In recent months, there has been an increase in the activity of Russian forces in that area.
"The alleged presence of Russian troops in the city of Kupyansk is not true," the General Staff of the Ukrainian Army wrote on the Telegram application.
Reuters could not independently verify what was happening on the battlefield.
Radio Free Europe (RSE) reports that Vitaly Ganchev, an official in the area appointed by Moscow, previously stated that Russian forces have taken up positions in the suburbs of Kupyansk and are advancing towards the northeast and southeast of the city.
"Information about the occupation of the Illinka settlement and the alleged stronghold of Russian troops in the city of Kupyansk is not correct," the Center for Strategic Communications of the Ukrainian Army announced on social networks on November 14.
"The General Staff informs that yesterday (November 13) the Ukrainian soldiers stopped the advance of the enemy in Kupyansk, destroyed all his armored equipment and eliminated a large part of the personnel," it was announced.
Russian forces seized Kupyansk, a strategically important railway junction, shortly after the start of Moscow's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, but Ukrainian troops liberated it in a counter-offensive in the autumn of the same year.
Russia has continued its offensive in the Kharkiv region in recent months, while continuing to attack Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city, with rockets and artillery fire, causing numerous civilian casualties and damaging civilian and energy infrastructure.
Russian forces are mounting a slow but steady offensive along the entire eastern front, gradually advancing as Ukrainian troops struggle to hold their positions.
Russian Ambassador to the UN in Geneva Gennady Gatilov said on November 14 that the Kremlin is open to peace talks if the new administration of US President-elect Donald Trump initiates them, as long as the "reality on the ground" is taken into account.
In recent days, the Russians have allegedly gained advantages near the destroyed city of Kurakhovo in the Donetsk region and are threatening to surround it.
Early on November 14, air defense systems shot down 21 of 59 drones launched by Russia at targets in Ukraine, the Ukrainian Air Force reported.
The other 38 drones were lost after their navigation systems were jammed by Ukrainian electronic warfare systems, the air force said.
At the same time, two people were killed and eight wounded in the Russian shelling in the village of Shevchbeenko in the Donetsk region in the last 24 hours, the regional prosecutor's office reported.
Due to damage caused by Russian attacks and bad weather, 43 settlements in the Poltava region were unable to receive electricity, reported the Ukrainian electricity grid operator Ukrenerho.
The Russian Defense Ministry, meanwhile, announced that its air defenses shot down two Ukrainian drones early on November 14, one over Kursk and one over Belgorod Oblast.
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