Russia lacks forces to capture Sumy, says Defence Express

This opinion was expressed on Espreso by military expert Ivan Kyrychevskyi from Defense Express.

"The dynamics in Sumy region turned out to be predictable and cautiously optimistic. The Russian group of 53,000 troops deployed to operations in Sumy was insufficient to advance deeper into Ukrainian territory in this direction. And the Russians had nowhere to draw reinforcements from," the Defense Express expert noted.

According to him, under the current situation, the active combat front stretches 1,200 km out of a total 1,300 km, which means the enemy needs to keep reserves in the east and south. Even though Russia tried to convey intentions of capturing a new region through informational and psychological pressure, this did not play out well for them.

"Such intentions will remain unrealized for the occupying Russian forces. Unless they begin producing mobilization resources with 3D printers. It's one thing when Russians make political statements to deceive, and another when it comes to actual battlefield objectives they realistically believe they can carry out. In this case, capturing Sumy is clearly not among the tasks the Russian military command considers achievable," commented Ivan Kyrychevskyi.

• On June 24, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported 77 combat clashes along the Russian-Ukrainian front. No active offensive actions were recorded during the day in Sumy and Kursk sectors, but the Russian army carried out 96 artillery shellings.