Russia destroys border communities: Ukraine reports intensified shelling of Sumy region

Dmytro Lantushenko, head of public relations for the 117th Separate Territorial Defense Brigade, stated this in an interview with Radio Svoboda.

According to him, Russia is shelling the entire Sumy region, but the border areas are suffering the most.

"In recent days, the situation in Sumy region has become very intense. The enemy has increased the density of shelling along the entire section of the state border of Sumy region with the Russian Federation. At this point, it is impossible to single out a specific settlement, community, or district experiencing the heaviest shelling— the entire Sumy region is under intense enemy fire. This is especially true for the border communities, which are, unfortunately, being virtually destroyed by the enemy," the military official said.

At the same time, he noted that the Defense Forces are regularly eliminating enemy sabotage and reconnaissance groups (SRGs) attempting to breach the border.

"If the Russian troops felt that they could break through the Sumy region’s border and advance deeper into the territory, they would have already done so. We have observed an increase in infiltration attempts in recent days, but they are being stopped. All enemy SRGs are being eliminated, or the enemy is forced to retreat with losses," Lantushenko said.

In his opinion, since Russia cannot break through the border, its troops are focusing more on terrorizing civilians, forcing people to leave their homes.

• On the evening of March 18, Russia struck a hospital in Sumy. The Russian army also carried out seven consecutive attacks on a medical facility in the border area of the Sumy region.