Ukrainian army chief reports on Russia's summer offensive
Photo: Oleksander Syrskyi (Getty Images)
Ukrainian Defense Forces have stopped Russia's advance in the Sumy region. This year's wave of Russian summer offensive attempts from the territory of Russia is failing, Ukrainian Armed Forces Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi says.
"A day of intense work in the North-Slobozhanskyi sector. The defense of the Sumy region is one of the main tasks for today. Based on the results of May-June, we can state that this year's wave of attempts of Russia's summer offensive from the territory of Russia is choking, just like last year's attempted offensive in the Kharkiv region," Syrskyi said.
According to him, the advance of Russian troops in the Sumy region has been stopped as of this week, and the line of contact has been stabilized.
"In certain areas, our units are successfully using active defense tactics and liberating Ukrainian land in the Sumy region. At the North-Slobozhanskyi and Kursk directions, we have re-constrained about 50,000 personnel of the Russian Armed Forces, including elite brigades of their airborne troops and marines," he added.
The Ukrainian Armed Forces Commander-in-Chief also emphasized that the offensive actions of Ukrainian soldiers in the Hlushkiv district of the Kursk region forced the Russians to redeploy some troops to protect their territory. This has significantly reduced the offensive capabilities of the main group of Russian troops in the Sumy sector.
Group for defense of Sumy region has been created
In addition, a special group for the defense of the Sumy region - cities and communities of the region - has been created in the command of the group in the North-Slobozhanskyi direction. Its primary tasks are to strengthen the fortifications and build up the system of engineering and fortification barriers.
An official has also been appointed who will be directly responsible for preparing Sumy region's cities and communities for defense and ensuring the effectiveness of the system of engineering barriers in the likely directions of Russia's offensive. A deputy for engineering fortification equipment has also been appointed.
Inspection of fortifications
"I analyzed the real state of affairs directly in the fields and forests - I inspected the direction of fortifications, including the part responsible for the Regional Military Administration and the State Special Transport Service. The work is ongoing, but it should be accelerated, given the requirements of modern warfare," Syrskyi said.
He also added that the construction of additional fortifications, the organization of kill zones, the construction of anti-drone corridors, and the provision of more reliable logistics for Ukrainian troops are obvious tasks that are being performed, but the efficiency of such tasks should be much higher.
Russian offensive in Sumy region
On June 24, the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine stated that a significant decrease in the combat activity of Russian troops was observed in the Sumy sector. Earlier, Russia's Vladimir Putin said that he had not allegedly given his soldiers the task of occupying Sumy, but he does not rule out such a scenario.
According to DeepState, Russian troops have significantly expanded their control in the Sumy region over the past month. Analysts also claimed that Russians could have occupied the village of Loknia.
