Russian forces advance in Sumy as Ukrainian units cling to Kursk villages

The Russian Armed Forces (AF) are advancing in the Sumy region. Meanwhile, Ukrainian troops are still trying to hold onto several settlements in the Kursk region. 

Photo: commons.wikimedia.org by Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Army of Russia

According to Lieutenant General Apti Alaudinov, the commander of the Akhmat special forces, part of the Russian army is already on the territory of the Sumy region and is moving forward. The Russian forces are advancing very intensively in this direction, Alaudinov said. 

Meanwhile, in the Kursk region, the Armed Forces of Ukraine are attempting to hold onto three villages.

"They are trying to cling to only three settlements [in the Kursk region], but they are actually failing to do so. I believe they will suffer very serious losses there, which they are already incurring," Alaudinov said.

Ukrainian Command Calls Defeat in Kursk Region 'Planned Relocation'

Ukraine's Defense Minister Rustem Umerov said that in order to "maintain a certain readiness of forces and troops, we conducted a planned relocation to more advantageous defensive lines."

Umerov commented on the retreat of Ukrainian forces as a result of the Russian army's offensive and denied reports of encirclement of the Ukrainian group. According to him, Ukrainian forces continue to carry out "active defensive operations" and are trying to hold back Russia’s advance in the Sumy region.

Details

Sumy is a city in northeastern Ukraine. It serves as the administrative center of Sumy Oblast. The city is situated on the banks of the Psel River and has a population of 256,474 (2022 estimate), making it the 23rd-largest in the country. The city of Sumy was founded in the 1650s by Cossacks within the historical region of Sloboda Ukraine.