Heavy clashes in Sumy region, Ukrainian troops aim to push enemy back to Russia
Illustrative photo: The General Staff updated the Russian losses over the last 24 hours (GettyImages)
Fighting continues in the village of Hrabovske in the Sumy region, as Ukrainian defense forces engage Russians and attempt to push them back into Russia, according to the Joint Forces Group's Telegram channel.
The military command emphasized that Ukrainian defenders are making every effort to destroy enemy forces and restore control over the settlement.
"Fighting is currently ongoing in the village of Hrabovske. Ukrainian defenders are striving to drive the occupiers into Russian territory," the statement said.
At the same time, the military denied reports circulating in the media about Russian units being present in the nearby village of Riasne. According to official data, the occupiers are not currently there.
Viktor Trehubov, head of the Joint Forces Group communications department, told RBC-Ukraine that on December 20, 2025, Russian troops, in superior numbers, crossed the Ukrainian state border near Hrabovske, located on the border with Russia in the Krasnopillia community of the Sumy region.
"As a result of the enemy’s rapid advance, Ukrainian Defense Forces units withdrew from several positions in the Hrabovske area. Fighting is ongoing in the village. Despite some media reports, Russian forces are currently absent in the neighboring village of Ryasne," he said.
He also commented on reports of civilians being taken by Russian forces. According to him, after Russian troops entered the settlement, more than 50 Ukrainian civilians were forcibly taken to the territory of the Russian Federation.
Most of those taken were older men and women.
"Almost all of these individuals had previously submitted declarations refusing evacuation to Ukrainian-controlled territory. However, it should be noted that refusal to evacuate to Ukraine does not legalize the actions of occupying forces in forcibly relocating Ukrainian civilians to Russian territory," he clarified.
Photo: deepstatemap.live
What preceded this
Earlier, media reports claimed that Russian forces had allegedly breached the state border in the Sumy region and entered the village of Hrabovske. It was also reported that the occupiers may have forcibly taken more than 50 residents to Russian territory for so-called "filtration procedures" and were advancing toward other settlements.
However, the Sumy Regional Military Administration clarified at the time that amid the heightened threat in the region’s border communities, the evacuation of civilians was ongoing. According to the administration, some residents of the Krasnopillia community who had previously refused to leave were evacuated using armored vehicles.
Subsequently, Verkhovna Rada Commissioner for Human Rights Dmytro Lubinets confirmed that on December 18, Russian troops illegally detained about 50 civilian residents of the village of Hrabovske in the Sumy region. According to him, the civilians were held without access to communication or proper conditions and were forcibly taken to Russian territory on December 20.
Viktor Trehubov, head of communications for the Joint Forces Group, also reported that on the evening of December 20, Russian forces did indeed remove about 50 people from the settlement, mostly civilian men.
He added that near the village, the occupiers attempted to establish a so-called infiltration zone up to one kilometer deep, while emphasizing that these actions do not indicate a large-scale breakthrough.
