For several weeks, the Russians intensified their brutal attacks on the Sumy region.
The Russians carry out regular attacks on the regions that are on the border with it, said the spokesman of the State Border Service Andriy Demchenko. According to his information, more than 2,300 shellings carried out by the Russians have already been recorded. He emphasized that most of the shelling falls on the Sumy region.
According to him, the Russians are destroying civilian infrastructure and destroying the homes of local residents. Demchenko noted that the leadership of the Sumy region, the military-civilian administration regularly calls on local residents to leave dangerous regions. According to him, evacuations from border villages are still being carried out.
In turn, the mayor of Konotop, Artem Semenikhin, notes that the Russians are equating Sumy Region with land, because they are pursuing several goals. First, the Russians want to withdraw Ukrainian forces from the front line. Secondly, the Russians aim to weaken the economic potential of the border regions of Ukraine. This, according to him, is what the Russians need so that part of the people leave there. The calculation is that if the Russians manage to break into the Sumy region, they will not be met with fierce partisan resistance, as was the case in 2022.
In addition, Semenikhin adds, the Russians, by inflicting constant blows, are trying to influence those local residents who still support the “Russian measure”. The task is to force them to demand negotiations with the Russians in order to stop hostilities.
However, as the mayor of Konotop emphasized, there are not so many such people in Sumy Region. The majority of residents understand that Russia is an aggressor country and the army must be helped to resist it.