More than six months after the start of the Russian war of aggression, Ukraine says it has recaptured the strategically important city of Kupyansk in the eastern region of Kharkiv. The Ukrainian domestic secret service SBU published photos on Telegram on Saturday that are said to show its own units in the small town previously occupied by Russia. "We will liberate our country down to the last centimeter!" It says. Previously, Ukrainian media celebrated the recapture of Kupyansk and published a photo of soldiers holding the Ukrainian flag.

Because of its direct rail connection to Russia, the small town of Kupjansk is important as a transport hub for supplying the entire Russian troop formation around Izyum in the south-west. As a result of the Ukrainian advance, more than 10,000 Russian soldiers are now threatened with encirclement. Information in social networks that the Russians had already fled Izyum could not be checked at first either.

A few weeks ago, the Ukrainian army launched a counter-offensive, also using Western weapons. President Volodymyr Zelenskyj recently spoke of more than 30 recaptured settlements in the Kharkiv region. The Russian occupiers, in turn, announced the evacuation of civilians from several places - including Kupyansk and Izyum - days ago. Many international military experts see Russia's army, which invaded Ukraine more than six months ago, in a serious crisis given the recent loss of territory.

According to British information, the Ukrainian troops in the north-east of the country took the Russian forces by surprise with their counter-offensive. The Ukrainian spearheads have now advanced up to 50 kilometers on a narrow front into previously Russian-occupied territory, the Ministry of Defense said in London on Saturday, citing intelligence findings. This coincides with information from Ukraine in the past few days. Only a few Russian troops were gathered in the area, it said. "The Russian forces were apparently taken by surprise".