Lossing versioning history, while using copy to function in modern sharepoint library.

thanks Susan - but I was not referring to the version history of the source file - but the version history of the destination file.
We have version history set up in a library (eg 'published' or shared with an external team) to record the history of items shared and we populate that library from a separate working library (eg WIP library open to an internal team). We need to keep the history of versions shared with the external team. Uploading files to the shared library preserves the history of previous items, but copying the file - current version only (expected behaviour - I don't want the version history from the working library) deletes the full version history in the receiving library. This happens even if the receiving library has check out to edit applied to protect the contents from accidental editing and the item is not checked out. How does anyone keep the important history safe under these circumstances?