Zelenskyy debunks Russia's claim it occupied Kupyansk with in-person visit

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited Ukrainian troops in Kupyansk in the Kharkiv region on Friday, which Moscow claimed it had occupied.

Nearly one month ago on 20 November, Russia's Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov said Moscow troops had captured the northeastern Ukrainian town with a pre-war population of some 26,600 residents.

Kyiv denied the claims and Ukraine’s National Guard said it carried out a successful counterattack north of Kupyansk over the past several days, encircling Russian troops there.

In a video clip posted on his social media platforms on Friday, Zelenskyy is seen standing in front of a bullet-riddled sign bearing the town's name at the entrance to Kupyansk.

“The Russians kept going on about Kupyansk – the reality speaks for itself,” Zelenskyy said in his post.

"Today it is extremely important to achieve results on the front lines so that Ukraine can achieve results in diplomacy.”

Geolocation analysis of the video shows Zelenskyy is standing less than 2 kilometres away from Russian positions and 500 metres from the grey zone, which is well within the range of Russian drones, mortar or artillery.

At least three villages to the north and west of Kupyansk also remain under Ukrainian control, Ukraine’s open-source intelligence project DeepState has shown.

Kupyansk's northern districts are also shown as being under Ukrainian control.

On 20 November, Russian President Vladimir Putin stated that Russian forces had “managed to block about 15 Ukrainian Armed Forces battalions” in the Kupyansk area, inviting journalists to “come and see the surrounded Ukrainian army units.”