Russia's Sumy Offensive "Regrouping" As "Intensity Decreased With Heavy Losses"

Multiple reports reveal that Russia's Sumy offensive has decreased in intensity as heavy losses inflicted by Ukrainian forces stalled Russian units and have now caused what appears to be a pause for regrouping, generally a sign of significant casualties and equipment destruction. 

This turn of events was predicted by informed observers early on as Russia was not believed to have sufficient troops to gain much territory, let alone break through, and that does seem to have been borne out by the latest developments in that sector. JL

UA Wire reports:

The intensity of the Russian offensive along the border in Ukraine’s Sumy Oblast has decreased. The armored vehicles that the enemy previously used are not being observed. “The length of the border with Russia within Sumy Oblast is 550 kilometers. Only on a small section of it do they continue to assault." Russian troops “suffered heavy losses,” with dozens of soldiers killed or wounded over the past few days. Offensive momentum is exhausted and the advance towards Sumy has practically stalled. “The enemy may be regrouping its forces in this sector.”

The intensity of the Russian troops' offensive along the border in Ukraine’s Sumy Oblast has decreased, the State Border Guard Service (SBGS) spokesperson Andriy Demchenko said on national television on June 20.

The armored vehicles that the enemy previously used to break through the border are not being observed. Quad bikes and other motorized vehicles are being used instead.

“The length of the border with Russia within Sumy Oblast is about 550 kilometers. Only on a small section of it the enemy continues to use its small assault group tactics," he said, adding that Russian troops “suffered heavy losses,” with dozens of soldiers killed or wounded over the past few days. “The enemy may be regrouping its forces in this front sector.”

 

Russian forces continued their advance in one section of the front in Ukraine's Sumy region, with the largest advance near the village of Yablunivka, approximately 25 km from Sumy. According to monitoring service DeepState, Russian troops advanced narrowly towards the main road to Sumy, west of Yunakivka.

The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported that in the North Slobozhansky and Kursk directions, Ukrainian defense forces repelled 38 Russian assault actions in the past 24 hours. Meanwhile, the enemy conducted 14 airstrikes, dropping 32 guided bombs, and fired 225 times on Ukrainian military positions and populated areas, including one attack using a multiple launch rocket system.

Military analyst Oleksiy Hetman commented on the situation in the Sumy region, noting that the fierce combat in this area was considered a critical part of the Russian summer offensive campaign. However, after breaking through the initial and most vulnerable line of the Ukrainian defense, the offensive momentum of the enemy was exhausted. "They did indeed pass the first line of defense, which was admittedly weak. It was expected that we would halt or at least slow the occupiers, which we have now done. The advance towards Sumy has practically stalled, so to speak. All those apocalyptic scenarios have not materialized," explained Hetman.

According to Hetman, the Russians achieved certain tactical success at the beginning of the offensive due to the preliminary accumulation of reserves, manpower, and equipment. However, at this point, the expert added that the Russian advance has stalled significantly far from Sumy. "I think right now they won’t get closer than 20 km to Sumy. But anything is possible; they might reinforce with more troops, equipment, and resources. Some advance is possible, but there is no reason to panic or believe they will soon be near Sumy," Hetman stressed.

On June 14, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stated that fighters from the 225th separate assault regiment of the Armed Forces of Ukraine expelled Russian forces from the village of Andriivka in the Sumy region. The Ukrainian President also noted that Russia had ammassed 53,000 soldiers in this area.