The battle of Kupiansk was a part of the Ukrainian Kharkiv counteroffensive that began on 8 September 2022 and ended on 16 September 2022. A Financial Times article on 28 September depicted the battle and the Ukrainian advance preceding it as "the 90km journey that changed the course of the war in Ukraine."[6]
Kupiansk was occupied by Russian forces from 27 February 2022.[7] Although the Ukrainian army had destroyed a railway bridge to slow the Russian advance three days earlier, Kupiansk Mayor Hennadiy Matsehora, member of the Opposition Platform — For Life party, surrendered the city to the Russian Army in exchange for a cessation of hostilities, as the Russians threatened to take the city by force. As a result, the Ukrainian government indicted Matsehora for treason the next day.[8] On 28 February 2022, Matsehora was arrested by Ukrainian authorities.[9] Later Kupiansk became the de facto seat of the Russian-backed Kharkiv military-civilian administration[6] and an important logistical supply route.[10]
Prior to the battle, the Ukrainian general staff claimed an attack near Kupiansk on 5 September killed and wounded more than 100 Russian soldiers.[11]
Battle
On 8 September 2022, following a large-scale Ukrainian counteroffensive capturing over 20 settlements in just days, Russian occupation authorities in the city claimed that Russian forces began to defend Kupiansk.[12][13] On 10 September, a Ukrainian official published an image of members of the 92nd Mechanized Brigade's 1st Mechanized Battalion raising the Ukrainian flag over the city council building.[14]
Maxim Gubin, the pro-Russian mayoral replacement for Matsehora, had fled to Russia following Ukraine retaking Kupiansk.[citation needed]
Kupiansk's bridge over the Oskil River was partially damaged in combat, and became suitable only for use by pedestrians.[3] Russian forces bombed the local meat factory of Kupiansk, killing around a thousand pigs.[3] Ukrainian forces recaptured parts of Kupiansk located on the eastern bank of the Oskil on 16 September, thus taking control of the entire city of Kupiansk.[15]
Following the Ukrainian liberation of the town, Russian forces began to shell Kupiansk.[16] The first strikes against the town were on 13 September, which killed two civilians.[17] The next day, one person was wounded from airstrikes.[18] On 18 September, five people were injured from shelling in Kupiansk.[19] Two days later, two civilians were killed and five injured after Russian shelling on the city.[20] On 22 September, a woman and two children were injured by shelling.[21] On 27 September, five civilians were injured after a Russian strike on a church in Kupiansk.[22]
On 3 October, Russian shelling of a hospital in Kupiansk killed a doctor and injured a nurse.[23] One woman was injured on 5 October by an airstrike.[24]
On 26 September, Russian forces shelled a convoy of civilians escaping the villages of Kurylivka and Pishchane, near Kupiansk, killing 26 civilians. Signs of torture were discovered in Russian administration centers throughout the city.[25]
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