Latest news with #SumyRegion
Reuters
14-06-2025
- Politics
- Reuters
Zelenskiy says Ukraine halts Russian troops' advance in Sumy region
KYIV, June 14 (Reuters) - Ukrainian forces have stopped Russian troops advancing in the northeastern Sumy region and are now battling along the border to regain control, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said. In remarks released for publication by his office on Saturday, Zelenskiy said that Moscow has amassed about 53,000 troops in the direction of Sumy. "We are leveling the position. The fighting there is along the border. You should understand that the enemy has been stopped there. And the maximum depth at which the fighting takes place is 7 km from the border," Zelenskiy said. Reuters could not verify battlefield reports. Russia's troops have been focusing their assaults in the eastern Donetsk region, but since the start of the month, they have intensified their attacks in the north-east, announcing plans to create a so-called 'buffer zone' in the Sumy and Kharkiv regions. The Russian war in Ukraine is in its fourth year but it has intensified in recent weeks. Ukraine conducted an audacious drone attack that took out multiple aircraft inside Russia and also hit the bridge connecting Russia to the annexed Crimean peninsula using underwater explosives. Zelenskiy said that the Ukrainian troops had maintained their defensive lines along more than 1,000 kilometres of the frontline. He also dismissed Moscow's claims that Russian troops had crossed the administrative border of the Ukrainian central region of Dnipropetrovsk. Zelenskiy said that Russia was sending small assault groups "to get one foot on the administrative border" and make a picture or a video but these attacks were repelled. Dnipropetrovsk region borders three regions that are partially occupied by Russia – Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia. Russia now controls about one-fifth of the Ukrainian territory. Zelenskiy acknowledged that Ukraine was unable to regain all of its territory by military force and reiterated his pleas for stronger sanctions on Russia to force Moscow into negotiations to end the war. Two rounds of peace talks between Kyiv and Moscow in Istanbul produced few results that could lead to a ceasefire and a broader peace deal. The two sides agreed only to exchange prisoners of war. Several swaps have already been conducted this month, and Zelenskiy expected POW swaps to continue until June 20 or 21. "The agreement is that the exchanges will be completed, and the sides will discuss the next step," Zelenskiy said.
Reuters
13-06-2025
- Politics
- Reuters
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."
The Guardian
13-06-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Ukraine war briefing: Zelenskyy says troops contesting Russian advance in Sumy
Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said Ukrainian forces are pushing back against Russian forces in the border Sumy region where they have established a foothold in recent weeks. 'Our units in Sumy region are gradually pushing back the occupiers,' said Ukraine's president in his nightly video address. 'I thank you! Thanks to every soldier, sergeant and officer for this result.' The Ukrainian president provided no further details and offered no proof of Ukrainian advances in the area, and the claim contradicts prevailing assessments of continued Russian gains in Sumy. Russia has seized over 190 sq km (73 sq miles) of the Sumy region in less than a month, according to pro-Ukrainian open-source maps. They have captured more ground in the past days, advancing to around 20km from the city of Sumy's northern suburbs and rendering it vulnerable to long-range artillery and drones. The number of displaced people arriving in Sumy city is increasing, said Kateryna Arisoi, head of Pluriton, an aid organisation running shelters. 'So far evacuation has been ordered in more than 200 settlements,' she said. Last week, a Russian rocket attack on Sumy city killed three people and injured 28, including three children, while also damaging several buildings. Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said there had been a concentration of Russian men and equipment in Sumy region because of months of military operations across the border in Kursk region. He advised caution to establish details of the situation on the ground. 'I think [Ukraine's] military has the situation under control and I think we shall see a different picture in the coming days.' Ukrainian police said two people were killed and six were injured in the past 24 hours in the eastern Donetsk region, the focus of the Russian offensive. One person was killed and 14 others were also injured in the southern Kherson region, which is partly occupied by Russian forces, police said. The authorities in Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city, said 18 people including four children were injured by Russian drone attacks over Wednesday night. Boris Pistorius on a surprise visit to Kyiv said Germany was not planning to deliver Taurus long-range missiles to Ukraine that could allow it to strike deep into Russian territory. Instead, the German defence minister announced €1.9bn in additional military aid. Pistorius underscored that Germany would help Ukraine build its own long-range missile systems and help it finance purchases of homemade material. 'The first systems should be available in the coming months,' Russian has exceeded a million troops killed or wounded in its Ukraine war, according to the general staff of the Ukrainian armed forces and western intelligence estimates. The UK defence ministry also announced the figure on Thursday. The Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington has called it 'a stunning and grisly milestone'. Zelenskyy said he hoped to press Donald Trump at the G7 summit this weekend to step up sanctions against Russia. The US president said at the White House on Thursday that 'I'm very disappointed in Russia, but I'm disappointed in Ukraine also, because I think deals could have been made'. Two weeks ago, Trump indicated he would do something by now if it turned out Putin had been 'tapping him along', but the US president has so far failed to follow through. The US Republican senator Lindsey Graham, a close Trump ally, is pushing what he calls a bipartisan 'bone-breaking' bill to introduce a 500% tariff on countries buying Russian oil and gas – mostly targeting China and India.
The Guardian
08-06-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Russian forces closing in on Sumy city three years after Ukraine forced them out of region
Russian military units appear to be within 18 miles (29km) of the city of Sumy, three years after Ukraine forced them out of the northern region, while also making new and symbolically important ground in the east. Independent monitors confirmed Kremlin claims to have retaken the village of Loknia, which had been liberated along with the rest of the Sumy region during Ukraine's 2022 spring counteroffensive. It is the latest settlement in the region to be retaken by Putin's forces in recent weeks. The city of Sumy, which is 200 miles north-east of Kyiv, was never occupied by Russia after the full-scale invasion, but Putin's forces have been bearing down on the regional capital. Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned last month that Russia had concentrated 50,000 troops on the Sumy front and a series of settlements in the area have since fallen. Regional governor Oleh Hryhorov announced the mandatory evacuation of 11 more villages on 31 May, bringing the total number of evacuated settlements in the Sumy region to 213. The defence ministry in Moscow further claimed on Sunday to have reached the western frontier of the Donetsk region in the east of Ukraine, and to be advancing in the adjacent Dnipropetrovsk region for the first time in three years of full-scale war. Russia's defence ministry said forces from a tank unit had 'reached the western border of the Donetsk People's Republic and are continuing to develop an offensive in the Dnipropetrovsk region.' A spokesperson for Ukraine's Southern Defence Forces said: 'The enemy does not abandon its intentions to enter the Dnipropetrovsk region. 'Our soldiers are courageously and professionally holding their section of the front, disrupting the occupier's plans. This work does not stop for a minute.' The advance of Russian forces into the industrial region of Dnipropetrovsk for the first time would be a symbolic and strategic setback for Kyiv after the morale boosting results of Operation Spiderweb, in which its drones attacked some of the Kremlin's nuclear-capable bombers deep inside Russia. The Kremlin claimed in 2022 to have annexed the Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia regions despite not having complete control of them. Dnipro, the administrative capital of Dnipropetrovsk, has been under near constant fire since the invasion began. Independent monitors said there was also evidence Russia was advancing on the city of Kostyantynivka, in the Donetsk region, from several directions. The city has been a key logistical hub for Ukraine's forces since February 2022 when Putin launched his full-scale invasion. A Ukrainian military spokesperson, Dmytro Zaporozhets, confirmed that Russian forces were trying to 'build a bridgehead for an attack' on Kostyantynivka. Ukraine's cities are also bracing for fresh night-time missile and drone attacks after US officials said they did not believe Russia had fully responded to Monday's Operation Spiderweb, when 117 drones struck aircraft inside Russia. Russia launched one of its most intense aerial barrages of the war on Thursday night and into the early hours of Friday morning, firing 452 drones and 45 missiles at Ukrainian cities and infrastructure, but further plans were believed to be in the making. One US official told Reuters that while the timing remained unclear, a retaliatory strike could be expected in the coming days and was likely to be 'asymmetrical'. With the war heating up, even the small progress made in the talks in Istanbul between the warring parties appeared at risk of unravelling. A large-scale exchange of prisoners and bodies of the dead due to be held on Monday seemed in doubt after both sides accused the other of breaking the terms of the agreement. Kyiv and Moscow agreed to release all wounded soldiers and those under 25, equating to more than a thousand people from each side. Russia said it would also hand back the remains of 6,000 killed Ukrainian soldiers. The Kremlin accused Ukraine of not turning up to collect the bodies already at the border and prevaricating over Monday's prisoner exchange. Russian officials said they would continue to deliver further bodies to the border. Ukrainian officials accused Russia of playing 'dirty games' by not sticking to the agreed parameters for the exchange by including personnel in a list of prisoners they wished recovered who were not eligible. 'The Ukrainian side has unexpectedly postponed for an indefinite period both the acceptance of the bodies and the exchange of prisoners of war,' Russia's chief negotiator, Vladimir Medinsky, said on social media. Ukraine's Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War said no date had been set for the prisoner exchange. They said: 'Unfortunately, instead of constructive dialogue, we are again faced with manipulations. We call on the Russian side to stop playing dirty games and return to constructive work to bring people back to both sides and to clearly implement the agreement in the coming days'.
Russia Today
05-06-2025
- Business
- Russia Today
Russia seizes two Ukrainian Abrams tanks – MOD (VIDEO)
Russian forces have seized two Ukrainian US-made M1 Abrams tanks at the border with Ukraine's Sumy Region, the Defense Ministry in Moscow has said, releasing a purported video of the operation. In a statement on Thursday, the ministry said the recovery was carried out by members of the 22nd Motor Rifle Regiment. It added that the operation was conducted in two stages; reconnaissance teams secured the area against drones and explosives, and then a repair unit transported the tanks to the rear. A short video released by the ministry shows a Russian military convoy approaching a stationary Abrams tank ditched on a rural road. The tank appears relatively undamaged, prompting Russian Telegram channels covering the conflict to suggest that it may have broken down or been abandoned due to a fuel shortage. In addition to the Abrams tanks, the Defense Ministry said two International MaxxPro armored vehicles, one Stryker infantry vehicle, and a Challenger armored recovery vehicle were also evacuated from the battlefield during the same operation. Moscow has claimed to have advanced into Sumy Region, capturing several settlements. In late May, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that the military had been ordered to establish a 'security buffer zone' at the border following Kiev's unsuccessful large-scale incursion into Russia's Kursk Region and recurring strikes targeting civilians. The US committed 31 M1 Abrams tanks to Ukraine in 2023, and Australia last month promised 49 more. However, the tanks, each costing around $10 million, have faced numerous difficulties on the battlefield, including vulnerability to drone attacks and terrain-related issues. Ukraine has lost at least 22 Abrams tanks, according to the Oryx analyst group. In May 2024, Moscow showcased one captured Abrams at a military exhibition in the capital alongside troves of other Western equipment.
