Russia was able to control the city of Sumy with artillery.
The Russian army controlled the city of Sumy with long-range artillery fire; while holding Sumy province, the Ukrainian army suffered many losses.
Báo Khoa học và Đời sống•01/07/2025
Ukrainian media, citing sources in the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU), wrote that a “new threat to the city of Sumy from Russia” has emerged. Ukrainian sources said that Russian conventional artillery fire can now reach the outskirts of the city of Sumy. According to the Ukrainian state news agency Ukrinform, from June 21 to 23, the Russian military (RFAF) carried out artillery attacks on the village of Peschanoyevà, on the outskirts of the city of Sumy. This village is located less than a kilometer from the Sumy city border.
Some sources believe that the RFAF may have used 152 mm Giatsint-B towed guns or Giatsint-S self-propelled guns to attack the area. The Kyiv Post reported that the Russian artillery positions may have been located in the villages of Guevo or Gornal, in the Sudzhansky district of Russia's Kursk Oblast. It is noteworthy that the two Russian villages were recently recaptured from the AFU by the RFAF at the end of April; and that the Russian army had since occupied large areas of territory north of the Sumy region, approaching the city of Sumy about 16-17 km away. Currently, the AFU is trying to push the RFAF's forward units out of the center of the Sumy region, but Russian artillery is pushing back the AFU forces in the Sumy region and simultaneously shelling the AFU's logistical supply lines to the forward forces, in this direction of the front. Given the firing range of the Giatsint-B towed gun, which when fired with conventional ammunition is about 28.5 km, shelling the Sumy suburbs, where high AFU activity was noted, could and could be carried out from almost any positions located in the Sudzhansky district, even in the Glushkovsky district of the Kursk region. At the same time, Russian fiber-optic-controlled FPV UAVs, which can now reach the city of Sumy, can precisely attack motor vehicles, further straining the AFU's logistical supply to the forward defense forces.
Meanwhile, the US Wall Street Journal reported that the struggle to hold onto Sumy province is causing the AFU to suffer more losses than necessary. In addition, during the time it controlled Russia's Kursk region, the Ukrainian side failed to establish strong defense zones on the Sumy side of the border with Russia. After suffering heavy losses, when the AFU retreated from the Kursk area to Sumy, they discovered that the trenches there were unable to protect them from UAV attacks. Ukrainian soldiers often had to dig in their positions, under the attack of Russian FPV UAVs. In addition, Ukrainian soldiers reported that the areas where Russian troops are currently advancing have not been mined by AFU engineers. The Wall Street Journal also cited information released by the AFU General Staff, showing that the RFAF has concentrated 50,000 troops in this area; but the Ukrainian troops here are three times fewer than the Russian troops. The Wall Street Journal wrote that the RFAF Northern Group's tactic was to use small forces, continuously attack to find weak points of AFU resistance and then concentrate overwhelming forces, putting pressure on these places; forcing the AFU commander to use elite units to prevent breakthroughs.
In an effort to slow down the advance of the RFAF Northern Group on the Sumy front, the AFU General Staff was forced to transfer even elite units of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry to this direction. To ensure the safety of residents in the border areas of Sumy, Russia's TASS news agency, on June 28, quoted Mr. Oleg Grigorov, military commander of Sumy province, as saying that 58,000 residents in the border areas of Sumy province were evacuated to the rear. Despite the air raid sirens being sounded for up to 14 hours a day, the Sumy city government has not yet issued an evacuation order, Grigorov said. He also clarified that all adults can refuse to evacuate by signing a pre-prepared document. "We have announced an evacuation order for 213 settlements in the Sumy region, and on average about 100 people are being evacuated from the combat zone every day. Currently, about 57,000 to 58,000 people have been evacuated from this area," said Mr. Grigorov.
Earlier, General Syrsky, Commander-in-Chief of the AFU, said that the RFAF had “run out of steam” during the offensive on Sumy province. But contrary to General Syrsky’s statement, Russian military expert Oleg Glazunov said: General Syrsky was “exaggerating”. The pause in the Russian offensive does not mean that there has been some kind of turning point on the front line, but rather that it could be due to planning considerations, which require reorganization or replenishment of troops. (photo source Military Review, Ukrinform, Kyiv Post, TASS).
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