Ukrainian Forces maintain control of Tabaivka despite Russian efforts to capture Kupyansk
Russian forces have failed to capture the village of Tabaivka in the Kharkiv region. Ukrainian Armed Forces (UAF) continue to hold their ground against a 40,000-strong Russian army amassed for am attack on Kupyansk, said Ilya Yevlash, a representative of the Ukrainian operational strategic group of troops, Khortytsia.
According to Yevlash, the Ukrainian Forces continue to hold positions near Kupyansk and there is no territory loss. Specifically, Tabaivka is not under the control of the Russian Armed Forces (RAF). Fighting continues along with exchanges of artillery strikes.
"The village is presently not under the control of the occupiers, artillery duels are ongoing," the spokesperson commented.
Yevlash also listed the resources the Russians have rallied to occupy Kupyansk. According to him, it includes 40,000 troops, 500 tanks, 650 armored combat vehicles (ACV), 430 artillery units, and about 200 Multiple Launch Rocket Systems (MLRS).
Yevlash also said that an even larger Russian force is positioned near Bakhmut—almost 60,000 troops, 500 tanks, about twice as many ACVs (around 1,100), and slightly more artillery pieces (534).
Tabaivka is a village located 20 kilometers southeast of Kupyansk in the Kharkiv region. On January 29, the Russian Ministry of Defense claimed the capture of the village, but the following day, Ukrainian command spokesperson Volodymyr Fityo denied that claim, stating that the enemy had not seized the village, mentioning that due the marshy terrain not all was going well for the Russian troops there.
On the online military activity map DeepState, Tabaivka is marked as a "gray zone". The village is situated on the highway running from Svatove in the Luhansk region to Kupyansk in the Kharkiv region.
The Russian command is attempting to regain control over Kupyansk, which UAF liberated in the fall of 2022. Russian attacks intensified in the fall of 2023. At one point the number of Russian troops there reached 100,000 soldiers, according to Ukrainian command representatives.
One of the directions of the Russian attacks is towards the village of Synkivka, approximately four kilometers from Kupyansk. During one of the Russian breakthrough attempts, the Russians lost an entire column of tanks near this village. On January 22, the UAF General Staff acknowledged the loss of the village of Krokhmalne (1 km southeast of Tabaivka) but assured that it has no strategic significance.
On January 30, Western media reported that defensive fortifications were being built by Ukrainians to halt any potential Russian advance. Specifically, there are fortified positions near Kupyansk that feature concrete or metal command posts and lines of concrete pyramids entwined with cables.