Ukraine Says It Has Halted Russian Advance in Sumy Despite Massive Troop Presence

Ukraine’s military announced it has stopped Russia’s latest offensive push in the northeastern Sumy region, despite Moscow deploying an estimated 50,000 troops to the area.

In a statement released on June 29, Ukraine’s General Staff said the situation along the Sumy border had "stabilized" and that multiple Russian attacks had been repelled. “Russia has committed 50,000 troops to this front, troops that have not been rotated to any other battlefields,” the statement noted, crediting Ukraine’s proactive defense tactics along the Sumy-Kursk axis.

Ukrainian forces also claimed to have recaptured the village of Andreevka and advanced into nearby Alekseevka. General Oleksandr Syrsky, Commander-in-Chief of Ukraine’s Armed Forces, said Russia’s main strategy in Sumy is to exhaust Ukraine through overwhelming force and sustained pressure.

According to DeepState, a defense analysis group with ties to Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense, Russia currently controls over 208 square kilometers of territory in Sumy—a gain of more than 100 square kilometers compared to the previous month. Russian forces have also seized at least half of the town of Yunakovka, a key logistics and staging point for Ukrainian operations in neighboring Kursk last year. Russia’s Defense Ministry has not commented on the claims.

Meanwhile, Russian military blogs and state-linked media have portrayed the Sumy offensive as a success. War Gonzo, a media outlet connected to Russian special forces, wrote that “regardless of Ukrainian resistance, further Russian advances in Sumy are expected.”

Earlier this month, Ukraine deployed elite special operations forces from its Defense Intelligence Directorate (GUR) to reinforce the region. GUR chief Kyrylo Budanov said Russia’s objective is to create a buffer zone in Sumy, but fierce Ukrainian resistance has forced Moscow to deploy some of its most capable combat units.

“Russia is using the largest combined force we've seen in the Sumy offensive,” Budanov said, naming units such as the 104th Guards Airborne Division, the 83rd Guards Air Assault Brigade, and the 40th and 155th Independent Naval Infantry Brigades as key players in the operation.

Despite the scale of Russia’s deployment, the U.S.-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW) reported that most Russian attacks in Sumy have involved small infantry teams of 4–5 soldiers. No major armored units have been committed to the front thus far.

Ukrainian soldier Stanislav Bunyatov of the 24th Independent Assault Battalion described Russia’s tactic as one of attrition: using drones to identify Ukrainian positions, forcing defenders to retreat, and then sending in assault groups to take control. Some Ukrainian troops admitted the cost of defending Sumy has been high and that early hopes of building fortified positions during last year’s push into Kursk have not materialized.

After retreating from Kursk, many Ukrainian soldiers now find themselves defending makeshift trenches with limited protection against drones. Social media images also show defensive “dragon’s teeth” tank obstacles still piled in staging areas instead of being deployed along likely Russian routes into Sumy.

Western defense analysts say Russia’s combined ground assault, along with missile and drone strikes on Sumy, is stretching Ukraine’s resources thin across multiple fronts—particularly as heavy fighting continues in Donbas and around Kharkiv.

(Sources: War Zone, RIA Novosti, AFP, AP)

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