Border guards report the highest number of Russian sabotage and reconnaissance group incursions into Sumy region
This was reported at a briefing by Andriy Demchenko, spokesperson for the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine.
“The enemy’s sabotage activity continues, mainly along the borders of Sumy region. Just a few days ago, another attempt by a sabotage and reconnaissance group to enter Ukrainian territory was uncovered,” the spokesperson said.
According to him, Russian saboteur activity is still most noticeable in the north of Sumy region, closer to Chernihiv region, or in the south, nearer to Kharkiv region. In the central part, the activity of sabotage and reconnaissance groups is lower; there, the Russian forces uses a different tactic—small assault groups attempting incursions.
“The task of these saboteurs, as confirmed by the recent foiled attempt, is to plant mines hoping Ukrainian soldiers will be injured by them, as well as to scout positions to find out where and how the defensive line of our troops is arranged, so that more powerful weapons or drones can be used to strike those positions precisely,” Demchenko added.
Another task of these groups is to attack Ukrainian troops themselves, including attempts to capture our defenders, the spokesperson clarified.
At the same time, he noted that saboteurs do not operate daily; sometimes several groups are uncovered in a week, sometimes only one group in two weeks.
“But it is extremely difficult to track and predict exactly where and when they will act, including within Sumy region, as the border with Russia along Sumy region stretches about 550 kilometers,” he said.
He also added that most of the current sabotage and reconnaissance groups try to operate specifically within Sumy region, but the threat from such groups has not disappeared for Chernihiv or Kharkiv regions.
According to the spokesperson, since the beginning of this year, the overall number of artillery shellings has not increased significantly. However, attacks using drones have grown many times over.
“Basically, these are strikes carried out by unmanned aerial vehicles — drone drops, fiber-optic tethered drones, FPV drones. They outnumber artillery strikes. Additionally, the enemy’s use of aviation is very active. Guided aerial bombs and unguided air-to-ground missiles are being used for targeted strikes on Ukrainian territory,” he added.
