Russian Forces Close in on Capital of Ukraine’s Sumy Region: Elite Units Redeployed to Stem Advances

The Ukrainian Army has made significant personnel redeployments to reinforce its positions in the Sumy region, where Russian Army units have continued to make considerable advances since late April. Responding to heavy casualties among Ukrainian Army units in the Sumy region, “elite units” were reported on June 28 to have been deployed to Yunakovka, where the Russian Army had been advancing. The Ukrainian Army had by then been pushed back from Russian-claimed territories by close to 14 kilometres in some areas of Sumy, and was continuing to withdraw. It was confirmed the following day that Russian units had advanced to less than 20 kilometres from the regional capital, and that 50,000 Russian Army personnel had been amassed near the city, leaving Ukrainian units both outnumbered and outmatched in terms of equipment.

It was confirmed on June 30that the elite forces deployed to reinforce Sumy were operating under the 158th Separate Mechanised Brigade, which was commanded by officers trained in the United Kingdom. The brigade has ben equipped with T-64BV and T-72 main battle tanks, which form the backbone of the Ukrainian fleet, as well as a small number of T-80U tanks. Non-Soviet vehicles used by the brigade include the lightweight American MaxxPro and Humvee, the pre-Vietnam War era M113 personnel carrier, and British AS-90 self propelled howitzer. Facing the 158th Brigade, Russian frontline units both in Sumy have been reinforced by redeployments from the Kursk region, much as they have been in the Donbas, after the last Ukrainian forces in Kursk were routed in April with the assistance of North Korean personnel.While the Russian Army has been able to allocate more forces to the frontlines, the particularly high casualties and material losses suffered by Ukraine in Kursk, including the loss of much of the Ukrainian Army’s most capable equipment and many elite units, has weakened its positions on other fronts.

Update: Further details on the ongoing campaign in Sumy, including the specific Russian units which have been selected to spearhead advances, and the state of Ukrainian defences, are provided in this article.