Russian forces 2 km from Kupiansk's outskirts, official says

The key northeastern Ukrainian town of Kupiansk now lies only 2 kilometers (1.5 miles) from the front line as Russian troops sustain their attacks, Andrii Besedin, head of the Kupiansk town military administration, said on national television on Jan. 9.

Russian troops ramped up their efforts near Kupiansk last September and approached its industrial outskirts in the northeast. Ukrainian forces repelled several Russian attempts at entering the town throughout December.

"The situation is very difficult; the front line is 2 kilometers from the town's outskirts. Russia is constantly attempting to attack," Besedin said.

The Russian army also conducted 12 attacks on Jan. 8 in the direction of the settlements of Holubivka and Petropavlika, located nearly 6 kilometers (3 miles) from Kupiansk, according to Besedin.

Russian troops are trying to reach the main Svatove-Kupiansk highway to enter the eastern part of the town, Besedin added.

"The situation is very difficult and threatens the Kupiansk and Vovchansk sectors (of the front line). Russia is trying to gain a foothold in the town of Dvorichna, on the western bank of the Oskil (River). If they manage to transfer equipment to the western bank, there will be a threat of a rear attack in the Vovchansk sector and Kupiansk," he said.

Besedin added that residents of the Kupiansk community, despite the poor infrastructure, are not in a hurry to evacuate. On average, only five people leave the community's 12 settlements per day.

Some 900 people, primarily elderly, remain in the eastern part of the community and firmly refuse to be evacuated, according to the local military administration.

Once liberated Kupiansk braces for worst as Russian troops approach, and future Western support looks uncertain

Volodymyr paused his Sunday stroll from a shopping center in Kupiansk to take pictures of rubble from a Russian strike that almost killed his wife late last month. “It was broad daylight when they struck,” he said. “Our only luck was that my wife was in the kitchen, so

The Kyiv IndependentBoldizsar Gyori