MOSCOW, September 23. /TASS/. The Russian army has sealed off a large Ukrainian group north and west of Kupyansk, creating a semi-circle. The blockade continues from the south, the Russian Defense Ministry said.

TASS has gathered key information about the operation to liberate the city.

Encircling Ukrainian troops

- At present, Russian troops have blocked a large enemy group from the north and the west, creating a semi-circle. Combat operations to blockade neo-Nazis from the south are still underway.

- According to the ministry, nationalists from the Freikorps squad, terrorists from the Russian Volunteer Corps (RVC, recognized as a terrorist organization and outlawed in Russia), and special forces of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry’s Main Directorate of Intelligence are among the troops surrounded in Kupyansk.

- The number of Ukrainian troops blocked in Kupyansk amounts to 700, of whom 250 have already been eliminated, the Defense Ministry said.

- The ministry estimates that in the last month alone, the Ukrainian armed forces lost over 1,800 troops, 36 tanks and other armored vehicles, two multiple launch rocket systems, as well as 137 field artillery guns and mortars while defending Kupyansk.

- Russian military personnel used underground infiltration through utility tunnels during the advance in Kupyansk, which contributed to their success, the Defense Ministry said.

- Servicemen of the Battlegroup West are successfully completing the task of liberating the city of Kupyansk, with 5,600 out of 8,600 buildings brought under control, the Russian Defense Ministry reported.

Importance of Kupyansk

- Supply routes for the Ukrainian army’s group on the eastern bank of the Oskol River pass through Kupyansk, with the settlement having become vital for the enemy to hold the eastern part of the Kharkov Region.

- The Kiev regime has turned Kupyansk into a heavily fortified zone and established fire control over the approaches to the city, the Russian Defense Ministry reported.

- The ministry noted that nearly each building was turned into a well-equipped and reinforced long-term firing position.

- Control of Kupyansk will allow for further progress into the Kharkov Region, including the Izyum and Chuguev directions.

- Moreover, the capture of Kupyansk will open a direct route to Volchansk from the south, meeting the advancing forces of Battlegroup North from the north.

- The liberation of Kupyansk in the Kharkov Region will speed up establishment of control over Slavyansk and Kramatorsk, the Ukrainian army’s key defensive hubs in Donbass, the Russian Defense Ministry reported.