"Situation is clearly tense": Ukrainian Armed Forces on threat near strategic city

At the same time, the situation in Vovchansk, Kharkiv region, remains tense. Russian occupying forces are putting pressure on the city and its outskirts, Viktor Trehubov, spokesman for the Joint Forces Group, told Ukrinform.

The city of Vovchansk has been largely destroyed, with almost no infrastructure left, he said.

“Russian forces have been pressing for a long time, and the distance to the border is minimal. They are exerting pressure on Vovchansk and its outskirts, where Ukrainian positions remain — in Vilcha and Vovchansk Khutory — attempting to bypass and infiltrate. The situation in Vovchansk is clearly difficult,” the military said.

In Kupiansk, the situation is more stable. Russian forces are deployed just north of the city and east of the Ukrainian positions on the eastern bank of the Oskil River.

“They are trying particularly hard to put pressure on this foothold in order to reduce it and, ideally, seize it. But they have been doing this for months and it has not diminished — on the contrary, Russian forces there are now being actively destroyed. As a result, the situation in the city itself and its outskirts is steady and very positive in terms of inflicting losses on the enemy,” Trehubov said.

According to Trehubov, Russian troops who infiltrated the center of Kupiansk in small infantry groups are effectively doomed, as there is “physically no chance of extracting them from there.”