Russia may organize "disturbing" operation: Ukrainian Armed Forces Colonel Chernyk on situation in Sumy region

He told this on Espreso TV.

"Let's start with the numbers that speak for themselves. Opposite the Sumy and Kharkiv regions, up to 50,000 enemy troops, about 400 tanks and 1,000 armoured vehicles, as well as up to 1,000 artillery pieces, including MLRS, are concentrated. Is this enough for the invaders to break through to Sumy? No, it's not enough. They need to raise their operational numbers to at least 100,000. And are they capable of organising a so-called disturbing operation, as they did in the Kharkiv region? Definitely, yes," commented the Armed Forces colonel.

According to him, Russian enemy can use several battalion tactical groups, and one such group can consist of up to 800 people, and create such mini-bridgeheads 3-8 km deep into our territory.

"We will still be forced to divert manpower, equipment and our scarce ammunition for artillery. The enemy will do this because no one has cancelled the probing of enemy defences. So they are probing us. However, I will firmly stand by my position that the real battle for Kharkiv or Sumy is definitely not today, or even tomorrow, or even the day after tomorrow. The occupiers need a 300,000-strong corps, but we understand that we are killing almost 30,000 enemy personnel every month. I think that this month of May will be a record-breaking one," emphasised Chernyk.

• On May 13, the head of Ukraine's Main Intelligence Directorate, Kyrylo Budanov, says he expects a new Russian offensive in Sumy region.
• On May 21, the spokesman for the State Border Guard Service, Andriy Demchenko, said that an offensive by the Russian occupiers in Sumy region could not be ruled out, which could happen "at any time"
• On May 23, Andriy Demchenko said that border guards in the Sumy region recorded high activity of Russian sabotage and reconnaissance groups