Elena Teslova
27 January 2026•Update: 27 January 2026
MOSCOW
Russia claimed on Tuesday that it took control of two settlements in Ukraine, where overnight airstrikes have killed three people and injured 25 others in the southern port city of Odesa, according to local authorities.
The Russian Defense Ministry claimed in a statement that its forces captured the key logistics hub of Kupiansk-Vuzlovyi, situated about 6 kilometers (3.7 miles) south of the city of Kupiansk, a key front in Ukraine's northeastern Kharkiv region.
The ministry added that its forces also took control of the village of Novoyakovlivka, located about 36 kilometers (22.3 miles) southeast of the city of Zaporizhzhia.
In a later statement on US social media company Facebook, Ukraine's Joint Forces Task Forces denied it lost control of Kupiansk-Vuzlovyi, adding that the settlement is "not even tangent to the direct line of contact."
Independent verification of both Russia's and Ukraine's claims is difficult due to the ongoing war, which will enter its fifth year next month.
The claims come as local authorities in Ukraine reported that at least three people were killed and 25 others were injured due to an overnight Russian airstrike in the country's southern port city of Odesa.
Ukraine's State Emergency Service said on Telegram that a four-story building in the city was damaged due to the strike, noting that search and rescue efforts at the site have been completed.
"Every such Russian strike erodes the diplomacy that is still ongoing and undermines the efforts of partners who are helping to end this war," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on US social media company X following the attack, which he said also affected the Lviv, Dnipro, Mykolaiv, Sumy, and Kharkiv regions.
He went on to say that Ukraine expects the US, Europe, and other partners "not to remain silent" and called for political pressure against Russia. Zelenskyy also defined the attack on Odesa as "brutal."
Meanwhile, Ukraine's Air Force claimed on Telegram that the country's air defenses shot down 135 out of 165 drones launched by Russia overnight.
Russian authorities have not yet commented on the attack or responded to Ukraine's claims.
