Volodymyr Zelensky in Kupyansk on 12 December 2025. Photo: Official website of the President of Ukraine
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has recorded a video message from the embattled city of Kupyansk in the eastern Kharkiv region, despite Russia’s earlier claims that it had fully seized the city.
Zelensky thanked units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) for continuing to fight in the region, saying it was “extremely important to achieve results on the front” so that Ukraine could strengthen its position in ongoing peace talks.
His remarks followed reports of a successful AFU counterattack near Kupyansk, which has reportedly left a group of Russian troops encircled in the city.
“Today we can say that the Russians in the city have been completely cut off,” Ihor Obolenskyi, commander of the 2nd Khartia Corps of the National Guard of Ukraine, told Ukrainska Pravda on Friday, adding that no more than 200 Russian soldiers remained in the city.
Kupyansk, a major rail hub close to Ukraine’s second city Kharkiv, has been the focus of intense Russian military pressure since late 2024.
Russia’s Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov announced on 20 November that Russian forces had fully captured Kupyansk, a claim that was immediately disputed by the AFU.
Zelensky has been under growing pressure from Washington in recent weeks, as the peace deal pushed by the Trump administration reportedly includes a requirement for Ukraine to cede the 25% of Donetsk region still under Kyiv’s control to Russia.
Territorial issues have remained a central sticking point in the negotiations, as Zelensky said earlier this week that he had no legal or moral right to cede territory to Russia, and insisted on Thursday that any territorial decisions to end the war must be taken by the Ukrainian people, either through elections or a referendum.
Meanwhile, Vladimir Putin has scaled up public announcements of Russian territorial gains in Ukraine in recent weeks, most recently claiming the capture of Siversk in the Donetsk region on Thursday, despite the AFU insisting that Russia does not control the city in full.
