Ukraine’s army has carried out a successful counterattack in Kupyansk, and is on the verge of clearing the city of all Russian troops, according to the latest reports. Kupyansk is situated in Ukraine’s Kharkiv region and is an important rail and road hub, acting as a vital logistics centre and gateway to northeastern Ukraine.

Its capture would significantly disrupt Ukrainian supply lines and serve as a major propaganda coup for Vladimir Putin’s army. The Russians claimed they had seized the city in November, during a visit by Putin to a military command post. At the time, the army’s chief of staff Valery Gerasimov told the Russian President: “Units of the ‘West’ grouping have liberated the city of Kupyansk and are continuing to destroy Ukrainian armed forces units surrounded on the left bank of the Oskol River.”

The claims were dismissed by Ukraine, whose forces have since launched a major counterattack to drive out Russian units from the city.

Zelensky’s troops have now succeeded in encircling the city and cutting off Russian soldiers from the main body of their army.

Ukrainian soldiers are reported to have quickly cleared the northwestern outskirts and are moving towards the centre, where the remaining Russians have retreated.

In a post to its Telegram channel, Deepstate – a non-governmental and volunteer-led Ukrainian organisation that maps the war – wrote: “As a result of a successful operation by the Defence Forces, the enemy was blocked in Kupyansk and the entire northwestern outskirts of the city were cleared.

“The operation began with the creation of a blocking line and the cutting off of the enemy garrison in the city from the main forces.

“The Defence Forces relatively quickly occupied Radkivka and Kindrashivka, and also took Golubivka under fire control. After this, a clear-up of Mirovo (the occupational Soviet name of Moskovka) and the northwestern outskirts of Kupyansk itself took place.

“The Defence Forces continue to identify and destroy scum in the central part of the city, where the Russians have several enclaves, where they were forced to retreat.”

The Ukrainian President paid a visit to the his troops in the city to thank them for their efforts and heroic sacrifices.

Later in a post to his social media channel, he said: “Today – the Kupyansk direction, our soldiers are achieving results for Ukraine here.

“Many Russians have talked about Kupyansk – we can see it. I was there, I congratulated the guys.

“Thank you to every unit, to everyone who is fighting here, to everyone who is destroying the occupier.”