The Russian Defense Ministry said its forces had captured the village of Zhuravka in the northern Ukrainian Sumy region, located on the border with Russia. However, Ukrainian authorities did not confirm the loss of territory, Reuters reports, reports News.bg.
According to Moscow, Zhuravka is part of a wider cross-border offensive that began eight months ago, in which Russian forces are trying to push Ukrainian troops out of the area bordering Russia's Kursk region.
A few days ago, the Russian side said it had captured another village - Basivka - a claim that was also denied by Kiev. The latest statement from the Russian Defense Ministry did not provide any further information, except that Zhuravka is now under Russian control.
Russian state news agency TASS, citing security sources, reported that Russian forces were approaching Yunakovka - a location described as a logistics hub for Ukrainian units operating in the Kursk region.
The governor of Sumy region, Volodymyr Artyukh, said that Russian activity in the region had increased by 30% in the past week.
“Over the past seven days, the Russians have launched 47 assault operations against the positions of our defenders,” he wrote on Facebook. He said the main efforts of the Russian troops were concentrated around the villages of Zhuravka and Basivka. Artyukh added that the enemy continues to attack civilian targets, including food processing plants and dairies.
The Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Oleksandr Syrsky, said in an interview with Lb.ua that the Russian offensive in Sumy and Kharkiv regions “has actually already begun.”
“For several days, we have been observing an almost doubling of the number of offensive actions in all main directions,” he stressed.
Earlier, President Volodymyr Zelensky, citing Ukrainian intelligence data, warned that Russia was preparing new offensives in Sumy, Kharkiv and Zaporizhia regions.