The Ukrainian armed forces announced today that they are fighting to repel an attempt by Russian forces to break through into a frontline zone in northeastern Ukrainian Sumy region, Agence France-Presse reported, recalling that Kiev also accuses Moscow of illegally deporting civilians from the region to Russian territory, BTA reported.
"Fighting is taking place in the village of Grabovske", Ukrainian forces said in a message on "Telegram", adding that Ukrainian forces "are trying to push the occupiers back to Russian territory". The statement denied claims of Russian troops in the neighboring village of Ryasne.
The border area east of the city of Sumy has so far been relatively spared from fighting since a Ukrainian counteroffensive pushed back Russian troops in 2022, AFP reported.
Ukrainian human rights ombudsman Dmytro Lubynets accused Russian forces on Tuesday of forcibly taking about 50 Ukrainian civilians from Grabovske to Russia. Citing preliminary information, he said Russian soldiers "illegally detained" them on Thursday, deprived them of communication, and then "forcibly took them to the territory of the Russian Federation" yesterday. AFP notes that it has not been able to independently verify these claims.
Russia has not yet made any official comments on the matter, but announced yesterday that it had captured the village of Vysoke, near Grabovske. Civilians are currently being evacuated from this area.
The head of the regional military administration, Oleg Grigorov, called on the population to evacuate "to save their lives". "The enemy leaves no other choice for the residents of settlements near the border", he warned today on Telegram.
This new Russian offensive comes at a time when the Ukrainian military is facing a slow shift in the eastern front line, amid new talks in the United States over the weekend between the American side and Ukrainian and European envoys, on the one hand, and Russian representatives.
"Unfortunately, the real signals coming from Russia remain only negative: attacks on the front line, Russian war crimes in the border areas and continuous strikes against our infrastructure," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said today on "Ex".
According to him, "this week Russia has carried out about 1,300 drone attacks, (dropped) almost 1,200 guided aerial bombs and (launched) nine missiles of various types" against Ukrainian territory, particularly affecting the southern part, starting with the Black Sea port city of Odessa.