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First Post
4 days ago
- Politics
- First Post
Russia only 12 km from key Ukraine city, its troops outnumber Kyiv forces 3-to-1
After clearing out Ukrainian positions in Russia's Kursk region earlier this year, Moscow has shifted its focus across the border, with an estimated 50,000 troops pushing toward Sumy, according to a report read more In this photo taken from video distributed by Russian Defence Ministry Press Service on Tuesday, June 24, 2025, a Russian soldier prepares Giatsint-B 152 mm field gun to fire towards Ukrainian position on an undisclosed location in Ukraine. AP File Russian forces are now just 12 kilometers from the key northeastern Ukrainian city of Sumy, using their roughly 3-to-1 manpower advantage to ramp up attacks along the front. According to The Wall Street Journal report, after clearing out Ukrainian positions in Russia's Kursk region earlier this year, Moscow has shifted its focus across the border, with an estimated 50,000 troops pushing toward Sumy. Ukrainian soldiers on the ground say they are being heavily outnumbered as the Kremlin continues to press its numerical edge in multiple sectors, added the report. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD 'Their main strategy is to wear us down with their numbers.' The Wall Street Journal quoted Ukraine's top military commander Gen. Oleksandr Syrskiy as saying. The Russian push toward Sumy comes amid rising frustration from President Donald Trump over the Kremlin's refusal to pursue a cease-fire. Despite ongoing talks between Ukrainian and Russian officials in Turkey in recent weeks, Moscow has escalated its missile and drone strikes on Ukrainian cities. In the latest barrage, described as the largest of the war in terms of munitions fired, Ukraine lost an F-16 fighter jet and its pilot overnight Sunday. Gen. Syrskiy told The Wall Street Journal that over the past year, the front line has extended by more than 100 miles and now spans over 750 miles from northeast to south, . Russian forces have been probing for weak spots, then striking hard when they find one, as they did in Sumy last month. In response, Ukrainian commanders have scrambled to plug gaps, often deploying elite units. Earlier this month, Ukraine sent in HUR commandos to stabilise the front. Since then, Russian gains in Sumy have largely stalled, and Ukrainian forces have retaken some ground. 'Now we're looking for ways to conduct our own assaults and push the enemy back,' WSJ quoted Timur, commander of the Timur Special Forces Unit, an elite unit of HUR that has been fighting in the region for several weeks, as saying. It isn't an easy task for Ukrainian forces, which are outnumbered nearly everywhere across the front. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD 'Their numbers are a big problem for us, though not enough to overrun us,' Kappa, commander of the Chimera unit of the Timur Special Forces Unit, told WSJ. 'The enemy is losing 300 to 400 people per day across the region. But they can deal with that level of casualties…They keep bringing in reserves.' Earlier this month, a dozen fighters from the Timur Special Forces Unit set out to assault a Russian-held village north of Sumy. But halfway there, in a tree-line trench, they collided with a Russian assault team moving in from the opposite direction. Outnumbered, they were pinned down for seven hours as Russian forces tried to encircle them, reported WSJ. 'It was the cruelest fight I've ever been in,' Mark, the Ukrainian team's 25-year-old platoon commander, was quoted as saying. 'They were attacking with infantry, drones, grenade launchers, machine guns, artillery, cluster munitions. Everything…We never had more than a five-minute break while they were regrouping,' Mark added. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Mark said his team killed five Russian soldiers during the clash, usually enough to force a platoon to retreat. But these troops were better trained than others he'd faced, and they kept advancing, determined to take the trench. According to The Wall Street Journal, Helmet-cam footage shows a relentless firefight, gunfire crackling like popping corn. Mark called in mortar strikes while hugging the trench edge as artillery whistled overhead. One machine-gunner fired 5,500 rounds during the battle. Eventually, the team withdrew, crawling back through brush under mortar fire and drone strikes. All made it out, though three were shot and everyone suffered concussions, added the report. 'I'm really glad we got everyone out alive,' Mark said. 'We were in a really tough situation.' Still, soldiers in the area say holding Sumy is costing more lives than it should. During the six months Ukraine held ground in Russia's Kursk region, troops assumed defences were being fortified on the Ukrainian side of the border. But after a chaotic and costly retreat, they returned to find outdated trenches with no overhead cover from drones. In some cases, they're now digging fresh positions under enemy fire. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD They also report that key areas now under Russian advance were left unmined. 'It's like they prepared for tank columns, not a battlefield where dozens of drones strike daily,' WSJ quoted one infantry commander named Kyrylo, who fought in Kursk and is now fighting in Sumy, as saying. 'Every single day a position isn't ready is a day someone might not come back.' Asked about fortifications last week, Defence Minister Rustem Umerov said that the defensive lines in Sumy were being improved in threatened areas. 'Fortification is not just about concrete and trenches—it is an adaptive engineering system that takes the enemy's tactics into account and always serves one purpose: protecting our warriors,' he was quoted as saying. With inputs from agencies
Hindustan Times
4 days ago
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
Russia Amasses 50,000 Troops Around Sumy, Putting Ukraine in Precarious Position
SUMY, Ukraine—Russian forces are just 12 miles from this northern Ukrainian regional capital, a new target for Moscow, as the Kremlin presses its manpower advantage at a growing number of places along the front. Having almost entirely ejected Ukrainian forces from the Russian Kursk region earlier this year, Russian forces have now poured over the border in the opposite direction toward Sumy. With 50,000 troops in the area, they outnumber the Ukrainians roughly 3-to-1, according to soldiers fighting there. 'Their main strategy,' Gen. Oleksandr Syrskiy, Ukraine's top military commander, said of the Russians, is to 'wear us down with their numbers.' The Russian advance toward Sumy comes as President Trump has begun voicing growing frustration with the Kremlin's unwillingness to broker a cease-fire. Though meetings between Ukrainian and Russian officials have continued in Turkey throughout recent weeks, Moscow has stepped up its missile and drone attacks on Ukrainian cities during that same period. Overnight on Sunday, Ukraine lost an F-16 jet fighter and its pilot during an aerial bombardment, the largest since the start of the war in terms of numbers of munitions launched. Over the past year, the front line has grown by more than 100 miles, Syrskiy said, and now stretches more than 750 miles in an arc from the northeast to the south. The Russians have been probing in different spots across the line, and then pushing hard when they find one that gives, as they did in Sumy last month. That leaves Ukrainian commanders playing whack-a-mole, sending in elite units to help plug gaps. Earlier this month, Ukraine sent elite commando units from its military intelligence directorate, known as HUR, to help stabilize the situation. Since then, the Russian advances in Sumy have been largely stopped, and Ukraine has clawed back some territory. 'Now we're looking for ways to conduct our own assaults and push the enemy back,' said Timur, commander of the Timur Special Forces Unit, an elite unit of HUR that has been fighting in the region for several weeks. It isn't an easy task for Ukrainian forces, which are outnumbered nearly everywhere across the front. 'Their numbers are a big problem for us, though not enough to overrun us,' said Kappa, commander of the Chimera unit of the Timur Special Forces Unit. 'The enemy is losing 300 to 400 people per day across the region. But they can deal with that level of casualties…They keep bringing in reserves.' Earlier this month, a team of about a dozen men from the Timur Special Forces Unit set out for an assault on a Russian-held village north of Sumy. But as they reached a trench in a tree line about halfway to the village, they ran into a Russian assault team coming from the other direction. For the next seven hours, they found themselves pinned in the trench as the Russians, who significantly outnumbered them, tried to surround them. 'It was the cruelest fight I've ever been in,' said Mark, the Ukrainian team's 25-year-old platoon commander. 'They were attacking with infantry, drones, grenade launchers, machine guns, artillery, cluster munitions. Everything…We never had more than a five-minute break while they were regrouping.' Mark said his team killed five Russians during the fight, which would often prompt a platoon to retreat, but he said the Russian troops were better trained than others he has come up against. They kept pushing forward to take the trench. Videos of the fight from the soldiers' helmet cameras, which were viewed by The Wall Street Journal, show a near-constant barrage, with gunfire sounding like corn popping. Mark calls in mortar strikes and frequently presses himself against the edge of the trench as he hears the whistle of artillery approaching. The team's machine-gunner fired 5,500 rounds during the fight. Mark, a platoon commander from the Aratta group of the Timur Special Forces Unit. Eventually, they decided to pull back, climbing back through the branches and shrubs while mortars and attack drones hit around them. The entire team made it back, though three sustained nonfatal gunshot wounds. The whole team suffered concussions. 'I'm really glad we got everyone out alive,' Mark said. 'We were in a really tough situation.' Still, soldiers in the area say that holding Sumy is coming at a greater human cost than necessary. During the half-year that Ukraine held territory in Russia's Kursk region, soldiers who fought there said they assumed the military would be preparing strong defensive positions on the Ukrainian side of the border. Instead, after a chaotic and costly retreat from Kursk, they found outdated trenches, with no overhead cover from drones. The soldiers are now digging their own positions under drone fire in some cases. They also complained that areas that the Russians are now advancing across weren't mined. 'It's like they prepared for tank columns, not a battlefield where dozens of drones strike daily,' said one infantry commander named Kyrylo, who fought in Kursk and is now fighting in Sumy. 'Every single day a position isn't ready is a day someone might not come back.' Asked about fortifications last week, Defense Minister Rustem Umerov said that the defensive lines in Sumy were being improved in threatened areas. 'Fortification is not just about concrete and trenches—it is an adaptive engineering system that takes the enemy's tactics into account and always serves one purpose: protecting our warriors.' Street scenes in the front-line town of Sumy, top and bottom Write to Ian Lovett at Russia Amasses 50,000 Troops Around Sumy, Putting Ukraine in Precarious Position Russia Amasses 50,000 Troops Around Sumy, Putting Ukraine in Precarious Position
