Commander: Ukraine halts Russian advance in northeastern Sumy region
Ukrainian forces have halted Russia's recent advance into the northeastern Sumy region and stabilised the front line near the Russian border, Ukraine's top military commander said Thursday.
The Ukrainian military's commander-in-chief, Oleksandr Syrskyi, said successful defence in the Sumy region has prevented Russia from redeploying around 50,000 troops, including elite ariborne and marine brigades, to other parts of the front line.
"Based on the results of May and June, we can say that this year's wave of the enemy's summer offensive from Russian territory is faltering," Syrskyi said on Thursday.
Moscow has not yet commented on his claim.
Russian forces have made slow, costly advances along parts of the roughly 1,000-kilometre front line.
Their incremental gains have come at the expense of heavy troop casualties and damaged equipment. The outnumbered Ukrainian army has relied heavily on drones to hold back Russian troops.
Months of US-led international efforts to broker a ceasefire — now well past the three-year mark — have failed.
The only tangible result of the talks was the agreement to carry out a series of prisoner of war exchanges. The most recent exchange took place on Thursday.
Ukraine's coordination headquarters for POWs said the swap included severely injured or sick soldiers. The youngest of them is 24 and the oldest is 62, with officials adding that more exchanges are expected soon.
Sumy, the regional capital, had a prewar population of approximately 250,000 and lies about 20 kilometres from the front line.
Syrskyi said a special defence group has been formed to improve security and defence in Sumy and surrounding communities. Its focus is improving fortifications and accelerating the construction of additional defensive barriers.
In March, Ukrainian forces withdrew from parts of Russia's neighbouring Kursk region — parts of which they controlled after launching an incursion in August 2024.
Their withdrawal allowed Russian forces to reclaim some territory in the region of Kursk, before advancing between two and 12 kilometres into Ukrainian territory, according to differing estimates.
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