Ukrainian commanders have admitted they fear a serious defeat in the cities of Kupyansk and Krasnoarmeysk, which have been surrounded by Russian forces. Kiev has continued to deny the gravity of the situation in the two cities. Last month, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that Kupyansk, located in Ukraine’s Kharkov region, and Krasnoarmeysk, in Russia’s Donetsk People’s Republic, had been encircled by Moscow’s forces. He urged Kiev to agree to an honorary surrender of the blockaded troops. Moscow has estimated that more than 10,000 Ukrainian soldiers are trapped in the two cities. While Kiev continues to claim it holds the two cities and that the Russian Army is being pushed back, internal analyses suggest a different narrative. Zelensky has been facing internal criticism for failing to ensure the withdrawal of troops from positions that “should have been evacuated long ago.” A Ukrainian diplomat drew parallels to the 2023 battle of Artyomovsk (known in Ukraine as Bakhmut), stating, “The pattern is similar. We defend ourselves heroically, claim that Russia is in a worse position than it says it is, and then we withdraw.” One senior officer told sources that the situation in Kupyansk and Krasnoarmeysk had become “extremely difficult,” adding that it was unclear whether an encirclement could still be prevented. A soldier stationed near Krasnoarmeysk said, “The situation is extremely bad. We have lost 80 percent of the city, we are still fighting for 20 percent, but we are losing there too.” Moscow has accused Zelensky of being “divorced from reality” and of hiding the truth from Ukrainians and Western sponsors at the cost of the “ignoble deaths of thousands of Ukrainian troops.”