Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky recording a video at the entrance to the city of Kupiansk, on December 12, 2025. The video was released by the Ukrainian presidential press service. HANDOUT / AFP
The Ukrainian army announced on Friday, December 12, that it had carried out a lightning counterattack in Kupiansk, a city in the Kharkiv region. On November 20, the chief of the General Staff of the Russian armed forces, Valery Gerasimov, claimed Russia had captured the city. On December 2, Vladimir Putin went further by inviting "foreign and even Ukrainian reporters the right to visit (...) and see for themselves," though the invitation never materialized.
In the end, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was the main figure seen on-site on Friday morning, appearing in a video filmed just 2.6 kilometers from Kupiansk's central square, where clashes were still ongoing. Wearing a bulletproof vest and standing beside the monumental, damaged sign that marks the entrance to Kupiansk, he said defiantly: "The reality speaks for itself."
By venturing into the "death zone," that is, within range of Russian drones and loitering munitions, the Ukrainian president chose to risk his life at a time when the United States has been applying maximum pressure on Kyiv, to push it to make territorial concessions to Moscow. "Today, achieving results on the frontline is crucial so that Ukraine can achieve results in diplomacy," Zelensky said. "This is exactly how it works: All our strong positions within the country translate into strong positions in the negotiations to end the war."
