Nearly 100 Russian soldiers entered the village of Hrabovske in the Sumy region, abducting local civilians
Nearly 100 Russian soldiers entered the territory of the village of Hrabovske in the Sumy region and tried to advance towards Riasne; fighting is currently ongoing in the village, Viktor Tregubov, head of the Joint Forces communications department, told Ukrainian media Suspilne.
Trehubov reported a “sudden attack”: Russian troops entered the territory of Hrabovske and attempted to capture the village and advance towards Riasne.
“Russian units are currently consolidating their positions in the southern part of Hrabovske. Ukrainian forces are trying to dislodge them from their positions. Fighting continues in the village,” Trehubov said.
He added that the settlements located directly on the border with Russia, from which it is possible to reach Russian territory on foot, can only be secured if a zone of control by Ukrainian troops is established several kilometers deep into Russian territory.
Context
On the evening of December 20, local media reported that Russians had entered Hrabovske in Sumy Oblast, located just a few kilometers from the border with Russia, and abducted all the people who had previously signed a waiver of evacuation deeper into Ukraine.
According to Ukrainian Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets, on December 18, Russian troops illegally detained about 50 civilians, held them without access to means of communication and proper conditions, and on December 20, forcibly took them to Russia.
Dmytro Lykhoviy, an officer with the Main Communications Directorate of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, said that most of the abducted were elderly men and women. President Volodymyr Zelensky said that there were also children among those abducted.
Lubinets appealed to the Russian Human Rights Commissioner to provide information about the whereabouts of the abducted Ukrainians, their conditions of detention, and their immediate needs, as well as to take measures for their immediate return to Ukraine. He also sent a letter to the International Committee of the Red Cross.
Trehubov believes that the situation in Hrabovske does not look like an attempt to create a local breakthrough, but rather a provocation for a possible political or information attack. The Joint Forces Operation reported that fighting continues in the village, but there are no Russian troops in neighboring Riasne.