Buffer zone in Sumy region: Zelenskyy comments on whether region is actually at risk
Photo: Volodymyr Zelenskyy, President of Ukraine (flickr.com)
As of today, there are no risks for the Sumy region, despite the fact that Russia has not abandoned its plans to establish a buffer zone there, states Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in response to a question from an RBC-Ukraine journalist.
The president said that the Russian forces still aim to create buffer zones in both the Sumy and Kharkiv regions.
"No one has abandoned this goal, but we have not abandoned ours either; we have blocked them everywhere. Therefore, there are currently no risks in the Sumy region," he emphasized.
Zelenskyy noted that the Armed Forces are aware of the situation at the border, including in one of the settlements. He stated that Ukrainian defenders will address the issue in accordance with their assigned tasks.
"You can see that we are fighting there, we are defending our villages, our civilian infrastructure, our towns. Russia is targeting civilian objectives, while ours are strictly military," the president said.
Abduction of residents from the village of Sopych
On March 6, it was reported that Russian forces kidnapped and transported to Russia residents of the border village of Sopych in the Esman community of the Sumy region. This involved 19 local residents who had refused evacuation and remained in the border village.
Later, an interview with them was broadcast on the Russian propaganda channel Vesti. In it, they reported that the Russians took the people to a settlement somewhere in the Bryansk region, where they are currently being held.
On the same day, the Commissioner for Human Rights of the Verkhovna Rada, Dmytro Lubinets, stated that such actions by Russia constitute a clear violation of international humanitarian law, including the forced deportation of civilians and blatant disregard for the laws and customs of war.
Previously, in December of last year, Russian forces crossed the border in the area of the village of Hrabovske in the Sumy region. At that time, they also kidnapped local residents and transported them to Russian territory — about 50 civilians who had refused evacuation deeper into Ukraine.
It was also previously reported that Russian forces are "testing" the border and looking for weak points in Ukrainian defenses. In particular, the enemy is attempting to advance along directions that had previously been less active.
