Russia masses 50,000 troops on Sumy Oblast border for buffer zone, Zelenskyy says
Russian troops concentrated 50,000 of their soldiers in the Sumy sector to try to create a "buffer zone" in the region, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said at a meeting with journalists, NV reports.
Russia has concentrated its strongest units in Kursk to create a 10-km buffer zone in Sumy Oblast.
However, the Ukrainian military is also making progress in this area, he said.
"Today, for example, they took eight prisoners in the Tyotkino area (Kursk Oblast of the Russian Federation — ed.) I just had a meeting with [Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Oleksandr] Syrskyi, Chief of the General Staff [Andriy] Hnatov. Syrskyi said that they are replenishing the exchange fund. This is very important for us. And that is why we are operating there, we are there. There are, of course, sabotage operations by the ‘Russkis’ in Sumy Oblast and there are responses from us," the president said.
What is happening in Sumy Oblast?
In late March, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Russia was planning another offensive against the Sumy and Kharkiv oblasts in the spring. In April, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Oleksandr Syrskyi announced that Russian troops had already launched it.
In early May, the head of the Sumy Oblast State Administration, Mykhailo Melnyk, called on residents of the border towns of Bilopillia and Vorozhba to urgently evacuate to safer cities.
Meanwhile, Russian leader Vladimir Putin has spoken about creating a “security buffer zone” along the border with Ukraine. In his speech, he mentioned the situation in the Kursk, Belgorod, and Bryansk oblasts, which border northern Ukraine.
According to the regional authorities, four settlements in Sumy Oblast are under Russian occupation.
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