Russia Liberates Kupyansk and Warns Zelensky of Serious Consequences
A Russian soldier. Photo: RT
November 21, 2025 Hour: 10:03 am
Russian combat effectiveness should convince Ukraine that it is better to reach an agreement, Peskov says.
On Friday, the Russian Defense Ministry announced that its army has liberated 16 villages since the beginning of November — six in the Dnipropetrovsk region and seven in the Zaporizhzhia region.
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Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces Valery Gerasimov said that units of the Zapad (West) group have liberated the city of Kupyansk and are continuing to destroy Ukrainian forces encircled on the left bank of the Oskol River.
Kupyansk is a key logistics hub and defensive stronghold for Ukrainian forces in the Kharkiv region. Russia previously controlled the city from February to September 2022, during which time it served as the region’s administrative center.
Gerasimov said that advances are underway in Krasnoarmeysk, another strategic city in eastern Ukraine, adding that more than 75 percent of the city’s territory is now under Russian control.
Meanwhile, “Ukrainian troops are also facing desertions and a lack of reinforcements, with growing public resistance to mobilization and reports of soldiers accusing Kiev of forcing them to hold indefensible positions,” Russia Today reported.
On Friday, Presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov warned Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky that continuing the war would have serious consequences for his government.
“Continuing the war is meaningless and dangerous for them. The Kiev regime must make a responsible decision, and it must do so now,” the Kremlin spokesperson said said.
“The Russian Armed Forces’ effective work should convince Zelensky and his regime that it is better to reach an agreement. Better now than later. The space for free decision-making shrinks as they lose territory,” Peskov warned.
He said the White House has not officially informed the Kremlin of its new peace plan for Ukraine, though Peskov insisted that Moscow remains committed to the understandings reached at the Alaska summit last August, where Russia refused to declare a cease-fire.
“Officially, we have received nothing. In fact, we learned some things from the press, although our contacts with the United States have not stopped, and we have never interrupted them,” he said.
teleSUR/ JF
Sources: EFE – RT – Xinhua
