Next is Sumy. Where to expect new Russian attacks

The head of the Main Intelligence Directorate, Kirill Budanov, assumed that the Russians were about to attempt an offensive towards Sumy.

Fighting continues in the Kharkov region, and a new Russian offensive is expected in the neighboring Sumy region. The head of the Main Intelligence Directorate, Kirill Budanov, said that Russian attacks in the Kharkov region will continue for another 3-4 days, after which Russian troops will “launch a decisive offensive in direction of Sumy.”

Stretchinge front

On the air of the national telethon, Budanov said that the Ukrainian defense forces blocked the Russian invaders on the borders of the Kharkov region and “there was a rapid trend towards stabilizing the situation.”

“The enemy has blocked the lines he reached. And the operation of the Ukrainian Defense Forces continues to stabilize and begins to push the enemy out of our country,” the head of the Main Intelligence Directorate emphasized.

He said the situation is not catastrophic, so there is no need to panic. Budanov added that the main goal of the Russian Federation was an information operation to create chaos and force groups of the Armed Forces of Ukraine to move away in the eastern direction.

At the same time, in an interview with The New York Times, Budanov said that “the situation is on the brink… Every hour the situation is getting closer to critical.” However, he added that Ukrainian forces will be able to strengthen their positions and stabilize the front in the next few days.

Are you ready to prepare?

Budanov said that Russia maintains a small group of forces in the border area in the direction of the Sumy region. Budanov noted that the Russians had been planning an operation in the Sumy region from the beginning. However, according to him, the situation does not yet allow the invaders to start active actions and implement their plan.

“At the moment, they hold a small group of forces in the border area in the direction, let’s say, for them it is the city of Sudzha, on our side it is the direction of Sumy,” said the leader of Main Intelligence. Directorate.

The head of the Sumy Regional State Administration, Vladimir Artyukh, noted in the telethon that the local authorities receive information from all possible sources about the situation in the border area on the contact line and communicate with military command around the clock.

“Based on information from the military, we make appropriate decisions to protect our population. As an example, this is the announcement of the evacuation of the civilian population from the community of Belopol. The military recommends doing this,” said Artyukh .

He emphasized that the construction of fortifications in the Sumy region is almost finished. Work is currently underway on the third line of defense. A large number of construction organizations are working there, so the construction is at the stage of completion.

The most vulnerable stage

Ukraine is more vulnerable today than at any time since the first weeks of a full-scale invasion in 2022, Ukrainian soldiers and commanders from several brigades said, The New York Times reported.

As the newspaper notes, factors such as lack of ammunition, rising casualties on the front and months of delays in American aid have serious consequences for the Ukrainian military.

Russia is trying to take advantage of this situation by intensifying attacks in eastern Ukraine, along the northern border near Kharkov, and is also threatening to open a new front, the NYT wrote.

“This is the situation when the engine knocks in your car, but you keep driving it. The engine works, but at some point it just stops. Then you spend more resources rebuilding the engine. There are also error here that seems not critical, but it led to the fact that the situation now needs to be stabilized. And it is not known where this stabilization will take place,” said Lieutenant Alexander Shirshin, deputy battalion commander of the 47th mechanized brigade.