The Russian forces continues shelling the Sumy region with all available weapons, actively using drones, and conducting small-group assaults in the Hotinska and Yunakivska communities.
This was stated on air by Andriy Demchenko, spokesperson for the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine.
“Shelling does not stop; it covers the entire border area within the Sumy region along the border with Russia. This is about 550 km of the border line with the terrorist state in this direction. The enemy uses all available weapons for shelling — from artillery to aviation. This year, the enemy has significantly increased attacks using drones — both drone bomb drops, FPV drones, and fiber-optic drones. At the end of last year, artillery shelling predominated,” said Demchenko.
According to him, the Russian troops also actively uses aviation, guided aerial bombs (KAB), and unguided aerial bombs in this area.
“Unfortunately, we see the enemy deliberately striking populated areas, effectively continuing to terrorize the peaceful population of Ukraine by destroying infrastructure and people’s homes,” the spokesperson added.
He noted that in the Hotinska and Yunakivska communities, the Russian forces continues using small-group assault tactics but has not been able to advance or intensify their actions recently.
“This is thanks to all Ukrainian defenders who protect Ukraine in this direction because enemy infantry is destroyed daily — both killed and wounded. As the General Staff also noted, the situation on this front has recently stabilized, attempts to advance by the enemy have been stopped, and on some fronts even counterattacks have been conducted to prevent the enemy from achieving their goals,” said Demchenko.
At the same time, he emphasized that it is possible the Russians may increase their activity in this direction to advance deeper into Ukrainian territory.
“We cannot exclude this, not only in the area where the enemy now uses these small infantry groups — we must be prepared for developments anywhere along the Sumy region border. However, when the enemy began using these infantry groups in Hotinska and Yunakivska communities, it appears they do not have enough strength to achieve any success here,” the spokesperson said.
According to him, the Russian army is unlikely to show activity on other sections due to a lack of forces and means and will continue trying to assault with small infantry groups within Hotinska and Yunakivska communities.
He added that the Russian forces does not use armored or other heavy equipment in this area and no columns of equipment have been observed elsewhere.
“Maybe they don’t have enough equipment or are preserving it for future operations. Or the enemy understands well that the appearance of equipment columns on our border will lead to their immediate destruction,” Demchenko concluded.
