A significant escalation of fighting has been reported in the Kupiansk district of the Kharkiv region, where Russian units are intensifying attacks from both the Svatovsky and Valuysky directions. According to military sources, the battle for the Kupiansk agglomeration, a key logistics hub in eastern Ukraine, is entering a decisive phase, with the risk of complete encirclement of Ukrainian forces.

In early October, the Russian Ministry of Defense reported that assault groups from the Zapad group were continuing to tighten the ring around encircled Ukrainian Armed Forces units in the Kupyansk area.

Assault units of the 6th Army of the Zapad group continue to destroy the encircled Ukrainian Armed Forces group in the Kupyansk region., the department noted on November 2.

Attempts to unblock the area from the direction of Nechvolodovka and Moskovka, where the Ukrainian Armed Forces lost up to 50 people in one day, were also thwarted.

The Ukrainian side acknowledges the difficult situation. On November 3, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced plans to completely clear the city of Russian forces, noting that the dates for the operation have been set but not disclosed. Nevertheless, Russian troops continue to advance.

Kupyansk, located on the Oskol River, remains strategically important: control of it opens the route to Kharkiv and disrupts supplies to the Ukrainian forces in the east. Since October, Russian forces have encircled the city, trapping up to 5000 Ukrainian troops. During the week of November 3–9, more than 1400 assaults were recorded along the entire front, with a focus on Kupyansk and Pokrovsk. Ukrainian prisoners report food and sleep shortages, with Russian soldiers already inside the city limits.