(Reuters) -Ukrainian forces are defending their positions and hunting down sabotage groups in the northeastern city of Kupiansk despite Moscow's statements that its troops are fully in control of it, Ukraine's top commander said on Friday.
Russia seized Kupiansk in the first weeks of the 2022 invasion, but Ukrainian troops recaptured it later that year. Russian President Vladimir Putin said last week it was back in Moscow's hands and on Thursday, while visiting Kyrgyzstan in Central Asia, he said the city was "fully in our hands."
Ukrainian commander Oleksandr Syrskyi rejected the claims.
"Our soldiers continue to conduct both defensive and search and strike actions," Syrskyi wrote on Telegram after visiting the area in Kharkiv region.
"These actions take place daily as part of comprehensive measures to stabilise the situation in Kupiansk. The scale of lies from the Russian leadership about the situation in Kupiansk is astonishing."
He said Ukrainian forces were "holding designated lines and intensifying fire pressure to block the enemy's supply routes."
RUSSIANS ALSO TARGET POKROVSK
Moscow's forces control about one-fifth of Ukraine's territory amid diplomatic efforts to settle the war, including a peace plan put forward by the United States and now including input from Ukraine's European allies.
In addition to the largely destroyed city of Kupiansk, another Russian target is Pokrovsk, a logistics hub farther south in Donetsk region.
Putin said on Thursday that Russian forces controlled 70% of Pokrovsk, known in Russia by its Soviet-era name, Krasnoarmeysk.
On Friday, the Russian Defence Ministry said its forces had captured two outlying districts of the city.
Syrskyi on Thursday said Ukrainian troops had been blocking attempts by Russian forces to stage new assaults on Pokrovsk and the adjacent town of Myrnohrad. The Ukrainian military, in a late evening report on Friday, said Russian forces had launched 65 attacks to try to pierce Ukrainian defences in the area.
Russia has also been making gains further south in Zaporizhzhia region.
The Ukrainian military blog DeepState, which uses open-source reports to track the positions of both armies, said Ukrainian forces were trying to set up an additional defensive line around the town of Huliaipole to withstand Russian attacks.
(Reporting by Ron Popeski and Oleksandr KozhukharEditing by Rod Nickel)
