Ukrainian Forces Advance Near Dvorichna as Kupiansk Stalemate Drags On

Ukrainian forces are pressing forward and gaining ground near Dvorichna, even as Russian troops keep fighting for control of Kupiansk more than a year after the battle began in August 2025, according to a field report from a Donbas-based channel.

A small number of Russian infiltrators from the first infiltration wave in early 2026 are still holed up inside Kupiansk, the report said. They have survived for months in concealed positions, sustained only by supply drops from small drones, in a pattern compared to the final defenders of Toretsk and Pokrovsk. These holdouts have reportedly linked up with fresh Russian assault groups that slipped into the city’s northern and central districts, trying to retake lost positions and relieve the trapped remnants.

The situation remains deadlocked, much like the standoff near Orikhiv. Russian infiltration continues, but Ukrainian troops clear the infiltrators and destroy them with drone-dropped munitions, restarting the cycle and preventing the de facto grey zone from being fully secured as Ukrainian-held territory. Earlier reporting from the same channel described Russian forces as still attempting to entrench themselves in Kupiansk, while Ukrainian drone operators on the western bank of the Oskil River strike positions in the Yuvileiny microdistrict.