Kupiansk

Kupiansk or Kupyansk (Ukrainian: Куп'янськ, IPA: [ˈkupjɐnʲsʲk]; Russian: Купянск, IPA: [ˈkupʲɪnsk]) is a city in Kharkiv Oblast, Ukraine. It serves as the administrative center of Kupiansk Raion. It is also an important railroad junction for the oblast. Kupiansk hosts the administration of Kupiansk urban hromada, one of the hromadas of Ukraine. It had a population of 26,627 (2022 estimate). In February 2024, more than 3,500 people remain in Kupyansk.

Until 18 July 2020, Kupiansk was incorporated as a city of oblast significance and the center of Kupiansk Municipality. The municipality was abolished in July 2020, as part of administrative reforms in Ukraine, which reduced the number of raions in Kharkiv Oblast to seven. The area of Kupiansk Municipality was merged into Kupiansk Raion.

Kupiansk is located on the bank of the Oskil River. Kupiansk is divided into three subparts, known as: Kupiansk (main part of town), Kupiansk-Vuzlovyi (where the train station is), and Kivsharivka.

Kupiansk is about two and a half hours from Kharkiv. The two cities are connected by train and bus.

Kupiansk was occupied during World War II by Germany from 24 July 1942 to 3 February 1943.

Kupiansk was occupied by Russian forces from 27 February 2022 to 10 September 2022. Although the Ukrainian Army had destroyed a railway bridge to slow the Russian advance three days earlier, Kupiansk Mayor Hennadiy Matsehora, member of the Opposition Platform — For Life party, surrendered the city to the Russian Army in exchange for a cessation of hostilities, as the Russians threatened to take the city by force. As a result, the Ukrainian government indicted Matsehora for treason the next day. On 28 February 2022, Matsehora was arrested by Ukrainian authorities. Later Kupiansk became the de facto seat of the Russian-backed Kharkiv military-civilian administration and an important logistical supply route. At Kupiansk town hall, the Ukrainian flag continued to be flown for 6 weeks, and at the medical school for 3 months. Locals were forced to work for the occupation force, paint bridges in the colours of the Russian flag and perform railway repair for alleged salaries that were never paid out.

Kupiansk was liberated during the 2022 Kharkiv counteroffensive. On 8 September 2022, a representative of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine announced that Ukrainian forces had retaken more than 20 settlements in the Kharkiv Oblast and "in some areas penetrated Russian defence positions up to 50km". On the same day, the Russian occupation authorities claimed that "the Russian army began to defend the city" and that "additional reinforcements entered the region from Russia", indicating that Ukrainian forces were re-approaching the city from the west, after retaking the town of Shevchenkove earlier that day. On 9 September 2022, Ukrainian forces re-entered the outskirts of Kupiansk and its administrative borders, starting the battle of Kupiansk.^{[citation needed]} By the morning of 10 September 2022, Ukrainian forces had recaptured the city council building. Later that day, a Ukrainian official confirmed that the Ukrainian Armed Forces had liberated the city. By September 26, Ukrainian Forces liberated Kupiansk-Vuzlovyi, the sister city of Kupiansk, located on the left bank of the Oskil River.

After retreating from the city, Russian troops repeatedly shelled it. In particular, the central city hospital, high-rise buildings and a lyceum, the Kupiansk-Vuzlovyi railway station and others were damaged.