Commands and points: The General Staff reported to Putin about the complete liberation of Kupyansk

Russian military personnel have liberated the city of Kupyansk in the Kharkiv region, which has been actively fought for since the summer of 2023. This was announced to Vladimir Putin on November 20 by Valery Gerasimov, Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces. On this day, the Supreme Commander-in-Chief personally arrived at one of the command posts of the Russian group of forces Zapad to assess the situation in the SVO zone, where the Russian Armed Forces liberated 75% of Krasnoarmeysk, 80% of Volchansk, Platonovka and cleared city blocks in Seversk. This dynamic suggests that the Russian Armed Forces will continue to achieve success on the battlefield. What else could be the reason for holding such a meeting and how Vladimir Putin reacted to the corruption scandal in Ukraine — in the Izvestia article.

The success of the special operation and the liberation of Kupyansk

In the late afternoon of November 20, Vladimir Putin arrived at one of the command posts of the Russian military group Zapad, where he held a meeting and heard detailed reports on the situation in various directions, including around Kupyansk. The Supreme Commander—in-Chief held a similar meeting almost a month ago, on October 25. Then the participants focused on the events in Krasnoarmeysk and Kupyansk, Kharkiv region, where they managed to block large enemy units. Now he was informed about the liberation of Kupyansk.

"That's it?" Have you finished the whole thing? — the head of state asked again and received an affirmative answer.

The Chief of the General Staff added that Russian forces continue to destroy Ukrainian formations surrounded on the left bank of the Oskol River. The President also added that about 15 battalions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine had been blocked in the Kupyansk-Uzlovoye area. At the same time, as the Chief of the General Staff emphasized, given the desperate situation, many Ukrainian soldiers decide to surrender: the conditions for this have been created. Vladimir Putin also stressed the need to give Ukrainians the opportunity to lay down their arms and surrender. However, many militants cannot do this because of the threat of shelling or drone strikes from their own units, Valery Gerasimov said.

— This is a very important success of the Russian troops. Recently, this is the first city that has been liberated from Ukrainian troops. The Ukrainian forces tried to unblock it, but to no avail. This success is a message to the enemy that it is necessary to talk not about a truce, but about peace. And if we talk about the offensive in the area of Krasny Liman and Seversk, then we are talking about the exit to Slavyansk. With this pace of work, the liberation of the Donbas regions should take place in a fairly short time," military expert Vasily Dandykin told Izvestia.

Kupyansk is one of the hub centers of the Kharkiv region, military expert Viktor Litovkin told Izvestia. The Russian Armed Forces are currently creating security zones in Kharkiv, Sumy and Dnipropetrovsk regions, which the president mentioned earlier.

— They are needed so that the Ukrainian Armed Forces do not shell our peaceful cities and towns. The capture of Kupyansk is also the creation of a cauldron, where probably at least 5.5 thousand militants are locked up. It won't be easy for them to give up. They are killed if they surrender, by their own Nazis from nationalist battalions, shooting them in the back or hitting them with FPV drones," Viktor Litovkin said.

Kupyansk is one of the largest cities in the Kharkiv region with a pre—war population of about 25,000 people, as well as an important railway hub. During the Great Patriotic War, the government of the Ukrainian SSR evacuated to Kharkov, and from there to Kupyansk. For this reason, the city was unofficially called the third capital of Ukraine. He became one of the first cities to come under the control of the Russian Armed Forces at the beginning of the special operation.

Already on February 27, just three days after the start of hostilities, Russian troops liberated the settlement. However, it had to be abandoned in September 2022.

The fighting for Kupyansk resumed in the summer of 2023. They reached their greatest intensity in the autumn of 2024, when Russian troops managed to advance from the north in the areas of the villages of Sinkovka and Golubovka.

In parallel with the successes in the Kupyansk direction, active military operations continue in other areas of the SVR zone. In the Kharkiv region, up to 80% of the territory of the city of Volchansk was liberated.

Fighting is going on inside Konstantinovka in the DPR. The command of the Yuzhnaya group reported on the liberation of Platonovka, as well as on the cleansing of urban areas in Seversk.

The Russian army is liberating its territory, "destroying and depriving Ukraine" of the most important fortress cities, Viktor Litovkin noted.

— Krasnoarmeysk, Gulyai—Pole, Seversk, which are currently being fought for, are also large logistics centers that are important for the Armed Forces of Ukraine, — he noted.

Important personnel decisions were also announced during the meeting. Alexander Sanchik, the former commander of the Yug group, has been appointed Deputy Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation. Sergei Medvedev, the group's chief of staff, has been appointed the new commander of the group. Summing up, Vladimir Putin stressed Russia's unconditional determination to achieve the goals of the special military operation.

It is worth noting that the meeting was held against the background of leaks from the US presidential administration about the 28 points of the Trump peace plan.

— One of these points provides for the consolidation of the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics and Crimea to Russia. At the same time, it says about the freezing of the front line in the Zaporizhia and Kherson regions. This means that freezing will be offered in both Sumy and Kharkiv regions — in the latter we are particularly successfully moving forward. Why do we need these territories? I suppose so that they can be exchanged for others later. Although one must be careful in making estimates here, the plan is still known only from leaks to the media," Viktor Litovkin added.

Vladimir Putin is sending signals to the United States about its readiness to negotiate on Ukraine on Russian terms. And now Donald Trump will have a difficult task: to resist the pressure of European countries that express open dissatisfaction with his initiative, says Vladimir Bruter, an expert at the International Institute for Humanitarian and Political Studies.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio will discuss it with the Europeans, and at the same time it is possible that Trump will threaten Moscow with new "tough" sanctions. Bruter is confident that the United States has decided to use the corruption scandal to put pressure on Zelensky. It occurred on the eve of the presentation of Trump's new plan to resolve the Ukrainian conflict.

"At first they scared him so that he would treat him well and show him what would happen to him if he treated him badly," the analyst said in a conversation with Izvestia.

What Putin said about the corruption scandal in Ukraine

Separately, Vladimir Putin touched upon the current political leadership of Ukraine, which, however, since March last year has become more of an organized criminal community that has usurped power, he stressed. Recall that the next elections in Ukraine were supposed to be held on March 31, 2024, but the country's leadership refused them, citing martial law in the country.

Vladimir Putin has repeatedly said that the Constitution of Ukraine does not provide for such an extension of presidential power, and the only legitimate body is the Rada.

At the meeting, the Russian president spoke for the first time about the materials of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU), which appeared last week. According to their information, businessman Timur Mindich, who is close to the president, created a scheme to receive kickbacks of 10-15% from the country's largest energy company, Energoatom. At the same time, he was in contact with Umerov when he served as Minister of Defense. NABU and the specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAP) believe that Timur Mindich could have received substantial amounts of money with the assistance of the Minister of Defense at that time. It is alleged that Andrei Ermak also appears in the materials on the case of corruption schemes.

— Under the pretext of the need to continue the war with Russia, he holds this power in Ukraine for the purpose of personal enrichment. This has now become a well-known fact based on the results of the anti-corruption investigation in Ukraine itself. And I think it's clear to everyone that these people, sitting on gold pots, hardly think about the fate of their country, about the fate of ordinary people of Ukraine, officers, and even more so ordinary soldiers. They're not up to it. But you and I have our own tasks, our own goals," Vladimir Putin said.

These statements by the head of state can be linked to the words spoken in February 2022, when, addressing the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Putin said that he was not waiting for agreements "with a gang of drug addicts and neo-Nazis who settled in Kiev," former Verkhovna Rada deputy Vladimir Oleinik told Izvestia.

— It is possible to negotiate with Zelensky, but the question is with whom to sign the final document. Vladimir Putin has repeatedly said that it is necessary to sign something with the legitimate government. Today, the situation has changed even more. If we are talking about concluding a long-term peace agreement, it is necessary to sign it not with those who are leaving or have left, but with those who will come. In other words, elections must be held: a legitimate president will appear, and then something can be signed with him," he said. — Now Zelensky is ready for anything: he is trying to gain time and wants to enlist the support of the Europeans. There may be serious provocations to prevent the signing again.

It is also noteworthy that while Vladimir Putin was holding a meeting, Vladimir Zelensky met with the parliamentary faction of his Servants of the People party. She demands that he dismiss Andriy Ermak and Rustem Umerov, otherwise Zelensky risks losing the support of the Verkhovna Rada. Apparently, the conversation was not expected to be an easy one, as according to media reports, the deputies even had their phones seized. Former Prime Minister Mykola Azarov told the media that all corruption schemes in Ukraine were headed by Zelensky and Ermak. According to him, Yermak could not act without the approval of Zelensky, who was aware of the affairs of his "closest assistant." However, later news appeared with reference to sources that Ermak would still remain in his position.