Russian troops used civilians as human shields near Kupiansk
Drone footage shows nine civilians, including children and the elderly, forced into a gas pipeline during a Russian retreat.
AI-assisted coverage comparison, editor-supervised · How this was made

Andrii Sîbiga. Foto: Profimedia
Photograph: Digi 24 (embedded from source)
What this story says
- Russian troops kidnapped nine Ukrainian civilians, including children and the elderly, to use as human shields during their retreat near Kupiansk.
- The civilians were forced to travel through a gas pipeline approximately 10 kilometers long.
- Ukrainian forces detected the group but did not fire to avoid harming the civilians.
- Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha stated that these actions constitute war crimes and violations of international humanitarian law.
Who covered it
Percentages are shares of the 12 outlets carrying a published leaning rating. 19 of the 31 outlets we know ran this story carry no rating and are not counted in them. Coverage measured .
Trust
50/100
Craft
65/100
Hype
45/100
31 sources · methodology
Missing from the right
Only 2 of the 12 outlets with a published leaning rating that ran this story are rated right.
A reader who follows the right would not have seen this. We report the absence rather than explain it: outlets choose what to cover for many reasons, and we have no evidence about which one applies here.
Russian troops kidnapped nine Ukrainian civilians, including children and the elderly, to use as human shields during their retreat near Kupiansk. The civilians were forced to travel through a gas pipeline approximately 10 kilometers long. Ukrainian forces detected the group but did not fire to avoid harming the civilians. The Ukrainian Khartiia Corps released drone footage documenting the incident. Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha stated that these actions constitute war crimes and violations of international humanitarian law.
Disagreement on details of the incident
Digi 24 reported that the Russian soldiers were disguised in civilian clothes and that one of them appeared to be filming the civilians with a mobile phone. The outlet also suggested that the Russians might present the action as a humanitarian evacuation. Kyiv Post stated that the identities of the men accompanying the civilians could not be confirmed from the footage alone, though the corps suspected they were Russian soldiers who had removed their uniforms. The same outlet noted that Russian forces had previously used the pipeline to move troops toward the city.
What the coverage left out
None of the left-rated digests mention the specific date of September 27 for the incident. The right-rated digest does not mention Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha's statement that the actions constitute war crimes and violations of international humanitarian law.
Coverage settled. We checked this 12 times and stopped on 3 Oct 2026, 20:00. The figures above are what it finished at.
How other outlets pictured it
Which photograph to run is each newsroom’s own choice. The leaning beside a name is that outlet’s published rating, not a claim that the pictures divide along it. Every picture is shown from the outlet’s own server and links to the article it ran in.
How each side covered it
Our own reading of the reporting listed below, written from the outlets’ articles rather than quoted from them. The reasoning is set out on our methodology page.
Left
6 rated outlets
- The left-rated reports led on the use of civilians, including children and the elderly, as human shields by Russian troops during their retreat. They highlighted that Ukrainian forces detected the group but refrained from firing to protect the civilians. The reports also noted the release of drone footage by the Khartiia Corps and stated that Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha described the actions as war crimes and violations of international humanitarian law. United24 specifically mentioned the gas pipeline was six miles long.
Centre
4 rated outlets
- Digi 24, rated centre, led with the declaration by Kyiv that a Russian sabotage group used Ukrainian civilians as a human shield during their retreat. The report detailed that nine civilians, including children and the elderly, were kidnapped on September 27 near Kupiansk and forced into a gas pipeline. It also mentioned the release of drone footage by the Khartiia Corps and quoted Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha calling the actions war crimes.
Right
2 rated outlets
- Korrespondent.net, rated right, reported that occupying forces covered for civilians while retreating from Kharkiv region. The report noted that drones recorded nine civilians, including children and the elderly, as well as men of recruitment age in civilian clothes, who may be Russian military personnel, according to the National Guard of Ukraine.
Questions about this coverage
- How did the left and right cover Russian troops used civilians as human shields near Kupiansk?
- Of the 12 outlets on this story carrying a published leaning rating, 50% are rated left, 33% are rated centre, 17% are rated right. Those percentages are shares of the rated outlets, not of every outlet that ran it, which was 31. The sections above set out what each side emphasised, in its own terms.
- Is Russian troops used civilians as human shields near Kupiansk left or right?
- Neither side dominates it. Of the 12 rated outlets on this story, 50% are rated left, 33% are rated centre, 17% are rated right, and no side holds the 70% this site would want before calling a field one-sided. A story is not left or right in any case; the outlets that carried it are what carry ratings.
- Is the coverage of Russian troops used civilians as human shields near Kupiansk biased?
- Russian troops used civilians as human shields near Kupiansk is one event reported by 31 outlets, and this page does not rate the story as biased or unbiased. What it publishes is the spread: which outlets ran it, where named rating organisations place each of them on the spectrum, and what each side chose to lead with. A leaning rating describes an outlet's record over time, not this article, and the two should not be run together.
- Which side is not reporting Russian troops used civilians as human shields near Kupiansk?
- When we first saw this story, outlets rated right had barely covered it. Coverage accretes for hours after an event, so that is where to look rather than a verdict — the split above is the current count, and it is the one to read.
- Which outlets covered Russian troops used civilians as human shields near Kupiansk?
- 31 that we know of, every one of them listed further up this page with a link to its own report and to what we hold on the publisher. Nothing here is a summary of somebody else's summary: the outlets are named so the original reporting can be read.
- What happened near Kupiansk?
- Russian troops kidnapped nine Ukrainian civilians, including children and the elderly, and forced them into a gas pipeline approximately 10 kilometers long during their retreat. This action was documented by drone footage released by Ukraine's Khartiia Corps.
- Why did Ukrainian forces not fire on the group?
- Ukrainian forces detected the group but did not open fire to avoid harming the civilians who were being used as human shields by the Russian troops during their retreat.
- What is the Ukrainian government's response to the incident?
- Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha stated that these actions constitute war crimes and violations of international humanitarian law. He emphasised that such acts must be documented and investigated for those responsible to be held accountable.
Read it at the source
31 outlets, grouped by the leaning a published rating gives them. Every headline links to the original; an underlined outlet name opens our profile of that publisher.
Left
6- Civilians Cannot Be Used as a Tool of War - Sibiga on the Abduction of Civilians in Kupyansk Region (opens UNN in a new tab)
- Russia’s pipeline into Kupiansk is now its escape route—with kidnapped civilians as human shields, Ukraine says (opens Euromaidan Press in a new tab)
Euromaidan Press — is Euromaidan Press biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Ukraine Says Russian Troops Led Children Into Gas Pipeline to Cover Retreat (opens Kyiv Post in a new tab)
- Occupiers use children, elderly as human shields during retreat in Kharkiv region – Khartia (opens Unknown in a new tab)
Unknown
- Russian Troops Force Civilians Into 6-Mile Gas Pipeline While Using Them as Cover (opens United24 in a new tab)
- Russian Military Covers Civilians in Kupyansk Region (opens Gwara in a new tab)
Centre
4- Russian troops using civilians as 'human shields' to flee via Kupiansk pipeline, Khartiia Corps claims (opens The Kyiv Independent in a new tab)
The Kyiv Independent — is The Kyiv Independent biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Recordings Should Show War Crimes: Did Russian Soldiers Use Civilians as Human Shields? (opens tz.de in a new tab)
- The Russians Tried a New Tactic: the Wrong People Unexpectedly Emerged From the Pipe (opens 15min.lt in a new tab)
- Kiev Declares that a Russian Sabotage Group Used Ukrainian Civilians as a Human Shield During the Retreat (opens Digi 24 in a new tab)
Right
2- Ukrainians Allege: Russians Are Using Civilians as "Human Shields" to Escape Kharkiv, Watch Video (opens Protothema in a new tab)
Protothema — is Protothema biased? Our profile of this outlet
- The Occupying Forces Cover for Civilians by Retreating From Kharkivshkina (opens Korrespondent.net in a new tab)
Korrespondent.net — is Korrespondent.net biased? Our profile of this outlet
Not rated
19- Children and Seniors as Living Shields. Russians Forced Civilians to Travel 10 Km by Pipeline (opens rmf24.pl in a new tab)
- Russians Use Civilians as a Living Shield Near Kupyansk (opens espreso.tv in a new tab)
espreso.tv — is espreso.tv biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Shocking Strategies. Children, Elders and People with Disabilities, Used as "Human Shields" for the Escape of Russians From Kupiansk (opens Mediafax in a new tab)
- Kiev Declares that a Russian Sabotage Group Used Ukrainian Civilians as a Human Shield (opens Ecopolitic in a new tab)
Ecopolitic — is Ecopolitic biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Kyiv Reports Abduction of 9 Civilians by Russian Sabotage Group in Kupiansk (opens Noticias ao Minuto in a new tab)
Noticias ao Minuto — is Noticias ao Minuto biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Shocking Images. A Russian Sabotage Group Uses Ukrainian Civilians as Human Shield (opens Adevarul in a new tab)
- Sybiha: Russians Used Civilians as a Human Shield During Retreat Near Kupiansk (opens LB.ua in a new tab)
- In the Kupyansk Region, Russian Troops Used Civilians as a Living Shield During the Retreat Through the Gas Mine (opens 1news.com.ua in a new tab)
1news.com.ua — is 1news.com.ua biased? Our profile of this outlet
Show 11 more
- Russian Military Could Leave Kupyansk Region Under Cover of Civilians — “Charter” (opens 5 канал in a new tab)
- The Occupiers in the Kharkiv Region Have Used Civilians as Human Shields and Forced Them to Travel Through the Gas Pipeline to Russia. (opens jauns.lv in a new tab)
- Russians Kidnap Civilians From Kup'yansk Through a Gas Pipeline. “Charter” Documented It on Video (opens babel.ua in a new tab)
- The Occupiers Kidnapped Civilians and Drove Them Through a Gas Pipe as a “Living Shield” (opens Gazeta.ua in a new tab)
- Occupiers in Kharkiv Region Kidnapped Civilians and Drove Them Through Gas Pipeline to Russia (opens Unknown in a new tab)
Unknown
- Children and Elderly People Have Become a Living Shield: the Occupiers Flee the Area of the Ukrainian City Through a Pipe (opens ТСН.ua in a new tab)
- “Charter”: Occupiers Kidnap Civilians From Kupyansk Through Gas Pipeline (opens liga.net in a new tab)
- Russian Forces Use Civilians as Shields During Kharkiv Retreat (opens knews.media in a new tab)
knews.media — is knews.media biased? Our profile of this outlet
- 10 Km by Pipe in the Dark. Russians Kidnap Civilians From Kupyansk, Force Children and Elderly to Leave Through Gas Pipeline — Charter Video (opens Unknown in a new tab)
Unknown
- In Kupyansk Region, Russians Kidnap People Through a Gas Pipe, Covering Their Departure (opens armyinform.com.ua in a new tab)
armyinform.com.ua — is armyinform.com.ua biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Occupiers Took Cover with Children, Fleeing From the Armed Forces of Ukraine in Kharkiv Region (opens Unknown in a new tab)
Unknown
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