Russia claims its forces captured Ukrainian Kupiansk, Kyiv denies

(Patria) - Russian Chief of General Staff Valery Gerasimov told President Vladimir Putin on Thursday that Russian forces had taken control of the Ukrainian city of Kupiansk, Reuters reported.

Putin visited the command post of the Russian forces group "Zapad" where he met with Gerasimov and high-ranking military officials, the Kremlin announced earlier.
Putin was informed about the situation in Kostiantynivka and Kramatorsk in the Donetsk region of Ukraine, as well as around Kupiansk in the Kharkiv region, the Kremlin announced.
"Units of the 'Zapad' group have liberated the city of Kupiansk and continue to destroy units of the Ukrainian armed forces surrounded on the left bank of the Oskil River," Gerasimov told Putin.

Gerasimov also told Putin that Russian forces had taken control of seventy percent of Pokrovsk, as well as over eighty percent of Vovchansk.
Later on Thursday, the Ukrainian army rejected the Russian statements.

"The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine hereby announces that Kupiansk is under the control of the Ukrainian defense forces," the Ukrainian General Staff announced in a late-evening bulletin.

"The statements suggesting that eighty percent of Vovchansk in the Kharkiv region and seventy percent of the city of Pokrovsk have been captured are also incorrect."