'They scouted and just walked right in': general on Russian border breach in Sumy region

Lieutenant General Ihor Romanenko, founder of the Close the Sky of Ukraine Charitable Foundation, stated this on Espreso TV.

"The situation with the Russian breakthrough at the border in the village of Hrabovske in the Sumy region needs to be examined objectively from a broader perspective. Specifically, from military, social, and diplomatic aspects, since people were evacuated after all, regardless of how they behaved," Romanenko said.

According to the general, Russian forces repeatedly announced plans to advance into the Sumy region, however, Ukrainian units there took no action to prevent such moves.

"From a military perspective, vigilance in this area was minimal, and the level of discipline was low. Unfortunately, there are videos showing how the Russians behaved. They had been conducting reconnaissance two years ago during the offensive on the Kharkiv region. Russian forces also repeatedly announced plans to attack Sumy and Kharkiv regions, but preventive measures were not taken on our side, which allowed them to advance. The Russians conducted reconnaissance, assessed the condition of our units, and captured this village quite easily. Now our combat units will have to drive them out," he added.

• On December 21, analysts from the non-governmental OSINT project DeepState reported that the Russian breakthrough of Ukraine's state border in the village of Hrabovske, Krasnopillia settlement community, Sumy district, Sumy region, was made possible not due to superior Russian numbers, but because of the irresponsible attitude of Ukrainian Defense Forces soldiers stationed there toward their duties.