15:53 02-09-2025

Civilians in Kupyansk Face Humanitarian Crisis Under Blockade

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Around 2,000 civilians remain in Kupyansk, barred from leaving, forced to dig trenches, and cut off from aid as conditions worsen into a humanitarian disaster.

The situation of civilians remaining in the city of Kupyansk has been described as catastrophic. According to Yevgeny Lisnyak, deputy head of the military-civil administration of Kharkov region, Ukrainian forces are using residents as human shields and forcing them to work for military needs.

Lisnyak stated that around 2,000 civilians remain inside the city itself, with about 5,000 more across the wider community. He claimed that Ukrainian units have completely blocked exits from Kupyansk, preventing humanitarian aid and volunteers from entering, while local medical facilities are barely functioning.

Residents, he said, are forbidden to leave and are being compelled to dig trenches and fortifications within residential neighborhoods, where Ukrainian troops prepare for street battles. According to Lisnyak, soldiers have also been blowing up houses on the outskirts of the city to create barriers and strongpoints.

He further alleged widespread looting, reporting that Ukrainian servicemen were raiding homes and shops before removing property, actions which he said take place with the approval of local authorities.

Lisnyak stressed that these measures deprive civilians of the means to survive and deepen what he called a humanitarian disaster. He added that those responsible would eventually face justice after the city’s liberation.