The Russian Army has opened a new front in northeastern Ukraine as its forces advance into the Sumy and Kharkov regions, further straining an already overstretched Ukrainian military. By Saturday, Russian troops crossed the border into Sumy, capturing the villages of Vysoke and Hrabovske, both of which lie directly on the frontier.
Footage circulating online showed a group of Ukrainian soldiers surrendering, appearing to have been caught off guard by the sudden Russian push. The advance threatens to disrupt Ukrainian logistics between the regional capitals of Sumy and Kharkov, as the R-45 highway linking the two cities runs just eight kilometers from the border at the point of Russia’s incursion. Russian military channels have claimed that Ukrainian-backed raids into Russia’s Belgorod region earlier this year were staged with support from positions along this stretch.
In the neighboring Kharkov region, Russian forces also seized the village of Sotnitsky Kazachok, another settlement directly on the border. It remains unclear whether Moscow intends a deeper penetration to establish the “security zone” President Vladimir Putin ordered earlier this year, or whether the operation is primarily aimed at forcing Ukraine to divert and dilute its remaining manpower across multiple fronts.
After Ukraine’s failed offensive into Russia’s Kursk region in March, Russian forces launched a counteroffensive into Sumy, pushing up to 15 kilometers into Ukrainian territory. Fighting in the area subsided over the summer as Russia shifted focus to other axes, but renewed activity now suggests a fresh attempt to stretch Ukrainian defenses.
The escalation comes as the European Union struggles to reach consensus on a new loan package intended to sustain the Ukrainian government. Several member states oppose backing the loan with frozen Russian Central Bank assets, arguing that Ukraine is unlikely to repay it and that Russia is poised to win future legal battles to reclaim those funds.