Residents weigh their chances as Russian troops approach Ukrainian city

SUMY, Ukraine, June 13 (Reuters) - Vladyslav Solomko, a 29-year-old French language tutor, is having trouble convincing his parents it would be better not to be in their home in Sumy if rapidly-advancing Russian forces capture the northeastern Ukrainian city.
"I keep asking them to leave," Solomko said on Friday, standing in front of a concrete air raid shelter that had been installed in the street to protect people from Russian drone and missile attacks that have grown in intensity.
For now, he said, his parents are not budging. But he added: "If the situation gets worse, there is no discussion: we will have to leave."
Sumy, a city of around 250,000 people, is located just 25 kilometres (15 miles) from the border with Russia. It was briefly encircled by Russian forces at the start of 2022 when they launched their full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Russian forces soon pulled out and since then, despite its proximity to the border, Sumy has been relatively quiet, as the focus of the Russian fighting has been further east and south in areas Moscow claims as its own without having full control.
However, that changed earlier this year when Russian forces pushed across the Ukraine-Russian border. Since the start of June, their advance has accelerated. Displaced people from outlying villages have been given refuge in public buildings.
The Russian advance also means the city is now within range of their artillery. On June 3, four people were killed and nearly 30 were injured when a Russian short-range battlefield rocket landed in the centre of Sumy.
Olha Kalchenko, a 29-year-old on maternity leave from her job as an accountant, said the question of whether to stay or leave was now a major topic of debate among her social circle.
"It is a bit scary," she said as she pushed her seven-month-old daughter, Oleksandra, in a stroller.
"Yes, there are thoughts about leaving but there is nowhere to go, so we stay here." she said.
"As long as they (Russian troops) are still a bit further away, it is still ok to live here. But if they get closer we will start thinking and planning to leave, that's for sure. At least me and the baby."
But another resident, Sergiy Petrakov, 63, said he would stay put in Sumy, even if Russian forces reached the city limits.
He said he trusted Ukraine's armed forces to push back the Russian advance, and would be willing to help build barricades and man checkpoints, adding: "We shall overcome, I think."

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Learn with AIFact CheckingText to SpeechAI Summary

Related Articles

Reuters

an hour ago

• Reuters

Russian attacks kill one in eastern Ukraine, one in the north

June 22 (Reuters) - Russian strikes on Saturday on key towns in Donetsk region on the eastern front of the war in Ukraine killed at least one person while another died in a drone attack in the north near the Russian border, officials said. The Russian military said its forces had captured another village in its slow advance westward through Donetsk region. And reports from Kharkiv region in the northeast suggested Russian troops were closing in on the city of Kupiansk. Russian forces struck Sloviansk and Kramatorsk -- two cities that Moscow will target as its forces press on with their westward drive. Both towns have come under frequent attack since the Russian invasion of its neighbour in February 2022. Donetsk region Governor Vadym Filashkin said one person died and three were injured in Sloviansk, with pictures posted online showing buildings reduced to rubble. He said four multi-storey dwellings and 32 private homes had suffered damage. In Kramatorsk, pictures posted by the city council showed heavy damage to part of an apartment building. Officials said at least one person was trapped under rubble and a number of other residents were injured. A mass drone attack on the town of Nizhyn near the Russian border killed one person and damaged local infrastructure. The Russian Defence Ministry said its forces had seized the village of Zaporizhzhia, southwest of Pokrovsk, where Ukrainian forces have been holding back Russian attacks for months. Zaporizhzhia village is distinct from the Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia, the regional centre and large industrial hub located some 160 km (90 miles) to the southeast. The General Staff of Ukraine's armed forces on Friday listed the village as one of several where Kyiv's forces had repelled Russian attacks. On Friday, the Russian Defence Ministry said it had captured the village of Moskovka, just outside the city of Kupiansk, also the target of repeated Russian attacks in recent months. Both Russian and Ukrainian military bloggers have reported an upswing in fighting around Kupiansk this past week. The town was first occupied by Russian forces in the first weeks of the 2022 invasion, but recaptured by Ukrainian troops later in the year in a lightning counter-offensive.

Telegraph

2 hours ago

• Telegraph

Belarus frees imprisoned opposition leader after US intervention

Belarus has freed Syarhei Tsikhanouski, one of the country's opposition leaders, in a deal brokered by US special envoy Keith Kellogg in Minsk. In what is widely being seen as an attempt to build relations with the West, Mr Tsikhanouski was one of 14 Belarusian opposition figures freed from jail on Saturday after Mr Kellogg met president Alexander Lukashenko. Ihar Karnei, a longtime Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty correspondent serving a three-year term on charges of extremism, and Allan Roio, an Estonian national who was detained last year after he established an NGO to raise funds for Belarusian refugees, were also freed. Mr Tsikhanouski is the husband of Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, Belarus' most prominent opposition leader who opposes the regime from exile in Lithuania. On her official Telegram channel, Ms Tsikhanouskaya shared a video of her husband disembarking a white minibus, writing 'what our family dreamed of for these five years and what we all worked for, from the moment of his arrest, has happened.' Mr Tsikhanouski, a popular anti-regime blogger and activist known for his anti-Lukashenko slogan 'stop the cockroach', was arrested and detained after announcing plans to run against Lukashenko in the 2020 election. Following her husband's arrest, Ms Tsikhanouskaya ran in his stead, but official results of the election which many saw as a sham handed a sixth term to Mr Lukashenko and sparked the biggest protests in the country's history. More than 35,000 people were detained and all political opposition was gutted. Mr Lukashenko, who extended his rule to a seventh term in January of this year, has pardoned almost 300 people including imprisoned US citizens since July 2024, in what some have described as an attempt to heal his relationship with the West. Mr Kellogg was welcomed to Lukashenko's personal residence when he visited Minsk earlier this week in the highest-level contact between Washington and the Belarusian regime since the crackdown on post-election protests in 2020. 'You have made a lot of noise in the world with your arrival,' Lukashenko said, adding that he hoped the conversation would be 'very sincere and open.' Mr Lukashenko's press secretary told Russian state media on Saturday that he had freed the 14 prisoners following a request from Donald Trump. It is not yet clear whether Mr Kellogg's visit will lead to the lifting of US sanctions against Minsk. Many other political prisoners, among them Nobel Peace Prize winner Ales Bialiatski, Lukashenko rival Viktar Babaryka and political activist Maria Kalesnikava, remain behind bars.

The Sun

2 hours ago

• The Sun

Russia hands its own dead soldiers to Ukraine in sick move during body swap as Vlad's best pal frees prisoners for Trump

RUSSIA handed over 20 bodies it claimed were Ukrainian defenders - but they were actually its own dead troops, says Zelensky. It comes as Russian ally Belarus freed its top jailed opposition leader and other political prisoners - after Trump's envoy met the ex-Soviet state's iron-fisted leader. 7 7 Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky revealed Russia's grim body-swap blunder on Saturday, as reported by Ukrainska Pravda. He said: "They (Russia) told us these were only Ukrainians and only service members. "But that's a lie, now documented. In some cases, these bodies even have Russian passports on them. "They can't even check who they're sending. We certainly want all of our warriors and the bodies of our heroes back. "But we definitely do not want Russians being handed over simply for the sake of quantity." Russia and Ukraine exchanged at least 1,200 prisoners of war over a week ago after the second round of direct talks in Istanbul. Meanwhile, Sergei Tikhanovsky, a prominent Belarusian opposition leader, was freed from jail along with 13 other political prisoners on Saturday. His release came after US special envoy Keith Kellogg met with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko in the country's capital, Minsk. Svetlana Tikhanovskaya - Tikhanovsky's wife and also a Belarusian opposition politician - publicly thanked Donald Trump, Kellogg and "all European allies" for securing her husband's release. Lukashenko's press secretary said the prisoners were freed at Trump's request. Vladimir Putin rages 'all of Ukraine is ours' as he threatens to seize key city while Kyiv slams tyrant as 'deranged' Tikhanovskaya wrote on X: "My husband … is free! It's hard to describe the joy in my heart." She added: "We're not done. 1150 political prisoners remain behind bars. All must be released." Five Belarusian nationals, along with Japanese, Polish and Swedish citizens, were also released, according to Tikhanovskaya's office. The Lithuanian foreign minister said on X that the 14 political prisoners were receiving care in Lithuania. Tikhanovsky was jailed for 18 years in 2021. 7 7 7 His wife ran in his place and claimed victory - but fled into exile with their kids the day after. Many Belarusians believe the 2020 election was rigged by Lukashenko's regime to keep him in power - a position he's held since 1994. Hundreds of thousands of Belarusians have fled their homeland since the brutal crackdown on opposition protests in 2020. Belarus has faced heavy Western sanctions for its brutal crackdown and backing Russia's war - including allowing Russian troops to use its land and hosting tactical nukes. Tens of thousands have been arrested in Belarus for political reasons over the past five years, says rights group Viasna. It comes as Vladimir Putin and Alexander Lukashenko signed a security agreement in December, finalising the deployment of Russian tactical nuclear arms in Belarus. The signing followed an amendment in Russia's nuclear doctrine, which for the first time placed Belarus under the Russian nuclear umbrella. It effectively gives Lukashenko control over the potential use of Russian tactical nuclear weapons deployed to Belarus in response to aggression. Putin said in a televised remark: "I'm sure that the treaty will ensure the security of Russia and Belarus." After the two leaders signed the pact, Lukashenko asked Putin to deploy the Oreshnik intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM) that Russia used for the first time last month against Ukraine. 7