Russian troops crossed Sumy Oblast border recently but were pushed back, Ukraine's General Staff says
Russian troops breached Ukraine’s state border near the village of Novenkе in Sumy Oblast on February 25 but were forced back into Russia, General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine spokesperson Dmytro Lykhoviy told Interfax-Ukraine.
“On February 25, the enemy stormed this border section with up to two mechanized units, crossed Ukraine’s state border, but was blocked and pushed back to Russian territory. Russian forces have since continued attempts at assaults, now with infantry groups,” he said.
Fighting in the area is ongoing, the General Staff noted. Ukraine’s Defense Forces are taking steps to prevent the enemy from disrupting Ukrainian logistics.
Background
The village of Novenkе in Sumy Oblast was marked as a gray zone on the DeepState monitoring group map as of February 28, 2025.
The Russian Telegram channel Mash reported that Russian troops are trying to seize control of a so-called lifeline — the only paved road between Ukraine’s Yunakivka and Russia’s Sudzha — to complicate supply lines and logistics for Ukraine’s Armed Forces.
Andriy Kovalenko, head of the Center for Countering Disinformation at Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, confirmed this. He said Russians are attempting assaults along Sumy Oblast’s border without vehicle columns, using infantry groups instead.
“The Russians’ plan is predictable and clear — to try to get behind the road from Yunakivka to Sudzha and disrupt Defense Forces’ logistics. But this plan is known, and the Defense Forces are taking measures to thwart it,” Kovalenko wrote.