Kyiv, June 26: Ukrainian forces have halted Russia’s recent advance into the northern Sumy region and stabilized the front line near the border with Russia, according to Ukraine’s top military commander, Col. Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi. Syrskyi claimed that Ukrainian successes in Sumy have prevented Russia from deploying about 50,000 Russian troops to other areas of the front line. Russian forces have been slowly grinding forward at some points on the roughly 1,000-kilometer front line, but their incremental gains have been costly in terms of troop casualties and armour. The outnumbered Ukrainian army has relied heavily on drones to keep the Russians back.
Months of US-led international efforts to stop the more than three years of fighting have failed. In March, Ukrainian forces withdrew from much of Russia’s neighbouring Kursk region, allowing Russia to launch a counteroffensive that advanced between 2-12 kilometers into Ukrainian territory.
Feudal fighting is also taking place in the eastern Donetsk region, with the Russian Defence Ministry claiming to have captured two villages, Novoserhiivka and Shevchenko, in Donetsk. Both sides continue to launch long-range strikes, with Russia’s Defence Ministry claiming that 50 Ukrainian drones were downed over nine regions overnight. (AP)
