The authorities of Kupyansk, the Ukrainian region of Kharkiv, on Thursday asked the population to evacuate from this settlement, where Russian troops are advancing, AFP and CNN reported.

In Kupyansk, Kharkiv Oblast, infrastructure was damaged as a result of Russian bombingPhoto: Vyacheslav Madievskyi/Ukrinform/NurPhoto/Shutterstock Editorial Office/Profimedia

The administration specified that, “taking into account the difficult security situation and increased bombing”, the evacuation requirement is valid both for this city, which had about 25 thousand inhabitants before the war, and for its suburb Zaoskil, located on the right bank of the Oskil River, Agerpres notes.

Kupyansk is one of the cities liberated last fall after the lightning offensive of the Ukrainian army in the north-east of the Kharkiv region.

But Russian forces have been conducting a counteroffensive for several weeks to try to regain lost ground in the region and likely force the Ukrainian army to redeploy troops there to take part in the Ukrainian counteroffensive in the south and east. .

For its part, the Russian army said on Thursday that its assault units had taken “more advantageous positions” in northeastern Ukraine, in the direction of Kupyansk.

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