Russian troops try to advance in Ukraine's Sumy region, governor says

Rescuers work at the site where a bakery was hit by a Russian drone strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Sumy, Ukraine Apr 18, 2025. REUTERS/Stringer

Russian troops are trying to carve out a buffer zone in Ukraine's northeastern Sumy region, although so far without substantial success, the regional governor said on Tuesday.

The Sumy region borders on Russia's Kursk region, where Russian forces have lately recaptured territory seized last year in the Ukrainian military's only major cross-border incursion of the war.

Kyiv has said for months that it is concerned about Moscow's troops trying to advance into Sumy. Russia has said its forces have captured some territory there and have driven all Ukrainian troops out of Kursk.

Sumy Governor Oleh Hryhorov said on the Telegram app that four border villages in Sumy - Zhuravka, Veselivka, Basivka and Novenke - were in a"grey zone" due to Russian attacks, but were not under Russian control.

"Currently, the enemy continues to try to carve out a buffer zone on the territory of our region, but has not had any significant success," Hryhorov said. Of the four villages, he said "there is no question of their occupation at the moment".

Russia's defence ministry said earlier in April that its forces had captured Zhuravka and Basivka, which Kyiv denied.

DeepState, an open source map compiled from observations of the battlefield, says about 52 square kilometres of the Sumy region are in a contested grey zone.