MOSCOW, November 4. /TASS/. Russian forces had practically taken control of the city of Kupyansk by November 4, even though Kiev denies this, Russian President Vladimir Putin said.

"By November 4, Kupyansk was practically entirely in the hands of Russian forces," he said at a meeting with permanent members of the Russian Security Council. "Our guys, so to speak, were finishing mopping up isolated neighborhoods and streets. The city’s future had already been determined at that point," Putin explained.

However, Putin recalled, Kiev was claiming that not more than 60 Russian troops were in the city, which would soon be unblocked by the Ukrainian army. "What does this mean? It means that either the Kiev leaders don’t possess objective information on the state of things on the battlefield or, if they have, they are unable to assess the situation objectively," he emphasized.