Ukrainian military protects a settlement along a riverfront: Russian soldiers ejected from their last positions on the east side of the river that separates the northeastern Ukrainian town of Kupiansk by Ukrainian forces, according to AFP on Thursday.
In a swift Ukrainian attack to free Russian-occupied regions of the Kharkiv region, the majority of Kupiansk. A significant railroad hub, was retaken from Russian troops early this month.
However, Russian forces managed to hold out for a time over a destroyed road bridge on the east bank of the Oskil River, and artillery battles continued while residents fled into Ukrainian territory.
On Thursday, Ukrainian firefighters and citizen volunteers crossed the bridge’s unharmed pedestrian walkway with the first supply of humanitarian food assistance.
2,000 food boxes from the UK handed over, Kupiansk’s military governor. Andriy Kanashevych, said, “This will be the first delivery of humanitarian aid on the other bank.”
On the east bank, Ukrainian tanks and armored vehicles maneuvered through wrecked automobiles and trucks with the Russian “Z” emblem despite the occasional mortar fire.
At least five bodies discovered alongside damaged vehicles with Russian insignia by reporters while they dressed in military fatigues.
Locals said that the Russians had departed as recently as Tuesday in the industrial neighborhood of Kupiansk-Vuzlovyi, located on the east bank of the Oskil five kilometers (three miles) south of the bridge.
But on Thursday, an armored personnel carrier, a platoon of Ukrainian soldiers, and at least two main battle tanks passed through the vicinity in front of the district cultural center.