Russian military’s TV channel passes off footage of troops withdrawing from Kupiansk as evidence of them capturing the city

Доступно на русском

Russia’s Defense Ministry television channel, Zvezda (lit. “Star”) has published several videos showing Russian troops in the Ukrainian city of Kupiansk, presenting the footage as proof that the city had been taken under Russian control. One of the videos, however, shows a group of soldiers moving out of the city.

The footage, filmed either by drones or by the soldiers themselves, appeared on Zvezda on Dec. 27 (1, 2). The latest compilation included three videos, only two of which were geolocated: one showed the Kupiansk Dairy and Canning Plant, and the other took place at the Kupiansk Sugar Plant. Both sites are on the left bank of the Oskil River (the eastern side). While Russian troops have infiltrated both sides of the river, no credible analyst has made the claim that Moscow’s forces have taken control of the city.

The location of another Russian video was labeled simply “Kupiansk.” It appears first in the compilation and is accompanied by the caption:

“The first video shows three of our guys walking through the city.”

At the same time, the video shows Russian troops moving toward the outer edge of the city — not towards the center. On the morning of Dec. 28, the pro-war channel “ZAPAD Troop Group | News” drew attention to this detail.

“The most interesting thing here is that the fighters are moving toward the EXIT FROM THE CITY. In the video, they only have a couple of houses left to pass and that’s it. And there are zero questions for them… On the plus side, our ‘birds’ are guiding them, so some minimal evacuation is present. On the minus side… this is being seriously used as proof of our control over the city.

The exit. From. The city. Is being used. As proof. Of control. Over the situation. In the city,” the channel wrote.

The Insider geolocated the footage and confirmed that the troops shown are indeed moving toward the outskirts of Kupiansk, through a residential area made up of private houses.

The footage published by Zvezda was taken near the site of a television transmission tower.

A YouTube video dated 2020, filmed by a drone in the same area, shows the same buildings that Russian troops pass in the Zvezda clip.

In mid-December, Russian authorities claimed the capture of Kupiansk for the second time in a month. The first such claim was made on Nov. 20 by Chief of the Russian General Staff Valery Gerasimov, followed on Dec. 17 by Defense Minister Andrei Belousov. On Dec. 12, between those two Russian announcements, on Dec. 12, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky published a Telegram video filmed in front of a Kupiansk entrance sign located on the western edge of the city.