Vladimir Putin’s forces are massing next to Russia’s border with Ukraine’s Sumy oblast, it has been reported, following evacuations from the region and a threat that Moscow has identified further territorial targets in its full-scale invasion.
Sumy governor Oleh Hryhorov said thousands had been evacuated from the region on Ukraine’s northeast border and next to the Kharkiv oblast, according to the Kyiv Independent. On the other side of the frontier Russian troops numbers are said to be increasing.
It comes Putin is trying to justify the renewal of Russian plans to seize Sumy City—16 miles from the border—and illegally annex the whole of Sumy Oblast, according to the Institute for the Study of War.
However, Ukrainian lawmaker Oleksiy Goncharenko told Newsweek that the city of Sumy would be too big for Russian forces to capture.
Newsweek has contacted the Russian defense ministry for comment.
Why It Matters
An increased Russian troop presence on the other side of Ukraine’s north east border signals that Putin is not scaling down his aggression, despite weeks of U.S.-led negotiations.
Now Ukraine’s Sumy and Kharkiv regions have been mentioned as being in Putin’s crosshairs, according to reports, and the troop build-up shows intent to occupy more territory regardless of ceasefire demands.
What To Know
Hryhorov told Ukrainian outlet Suspilne, cited by the Kyiv Independent, that 56,000 residents had been evacuated from their homes in Sumy which has faced a spike in Russian drone attacks and aerial bombs in recent months.
Last September, children and their parents were evacuated from a six-mile zone bordering Russia and additional evacuations were ordered this week after an attack on a civilian bus in Bilopillia, on May 17, which killed nine people, including all the members of one family.
Now Russian troops are massing on the other side of the border of the neighboring region of Kharkiv, which may indicate plans for a new assault, according to the 13th Khartiia Brigade of the National Guard of Ukraine.
It follows reports that, during a meeting with Ukrainian officials in Istanbul last week which Putin refused to attend, a Russian delegation threatened to seize the Kharkiv and Sumy regions.
Moscow said it would only agree to a ceasefire pushed by the Trump administration if Ukraine withdrew its forces from the four regions Russia claims to have annexed but does not fully control—Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia.
Oleksiy Goncharenko wrote on Telegram how Russia has started talking about the Sumy region, seeking the creation of a security zone and threatening to annex the region.
However, Goncharenko, member of the Ukrainian delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), told Newsweek on Thursday that the only big city Russia managed to take so far in its full-scale invasion was Mariupol which was surrounded completely and “so it was very specific situation.”
He said he did not believe Russia can take Sumy City itself but they could approach Sumy region and try to seize surrounding territories although the Ukrainian military is developing its plans “and they know what to do.”
During a meeting with Kursk regional officials on Thursday, Putin was asked by a district head to create a buffer zone in Sumy region and claimed Moscow should seize Sumy City and that Russia should be bigger.
The ISW said this meeting was orchestrated to justify Russia’s claims on more territory within Ukraine, although the Washington, D.C. think tank said that Moscow’s forces are highly unlikely to be able to seize Sumy City in the short to medium-term given its inability to capture much smaller settlements over the last three years.
What People Are Saying
Andrii Pomahaibus, chief of staff of the 13th Khartiia Brigade of the National Guard of Ukraine to Ukrainian media: “The enemy is trying to pull its personnel closer to the front line and conduct at least some assault operations (toward Kharkiv).”
Institute for the Study of War, Thursday: “Putin likely orchestrated a meeting with Kursk Oblast officials on May 20 to set conditions to justify the renewal of Russian plans to seize Sumy City and illegally annex Sumy Oblast.”
What Happens Next
Russia’s troop build-up by Ukraine is likely to continue with Moscow’s territorial aims beyond the oblasts that Russia has already illegally occupied or annexed, the ISW said. It added that Putin may try to leverage further advances in Sumy Oblast to demand that Ukraine cede part of it to Moscow during future peace negotiations.
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