Priyanka Tiwari
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Suspense crime, Digital Desk : The conflict in Ukraine has taken another turn as Russian forces reportedly seized four villages in the northeastern Sumy region. This development, confirmed by a local Ukrainian official on Tuesday, comes just days after Russian President Vladimir Putin announced he had directed the military to establish a "buffer zone" along their shared border.
Meanwhile, a recent and intense Russian bombing campaign, which saw hundreds of drones unleashed on Ukrainian towns and cities, appeared to have eased overnight. Ukrainian officials reported a significant drop in the number of Russian drones targeting their territory compared to the heavy barrages experienced between Friday and Sunday. During that period, Russia launched approximately 900 drones, culminating in what was described as the largest single drone attack of the three-year war on Sunday night, with 355 drones fired. In contrast, from Monday to Tuesday, the number ataques dropped to 60, according to the Ukrainian air force.
On the other side, Russia's Ministry of Defense stated its air defenses had successfully intercepted 99 Ukrainian drones over seven of its regions overnight.
The ground situation in Sumy remains tense. Oleh Hryhorov, head of the Sumy regional military administration, stated that Russian forces, having captured the initial villages, are now attempting to push deeper into Ukrainian territory. He assured that Ukrainian forces are actively working to hold their positions and that residents from the captured villages had been evacuated previously, meaning there was no immediate threat to civilians in those specific locations.
This escalation follows President Putin's visit to the Kursk region last week – his first since Moscow claimed to have expelled Ukrainian forces from that area last month, a claim Kyiv has denied. Ukraine had previously managed to secure a pocket of land in Kursk back in August of the previous year.
During his visit, Putin highlighted the continued vulnerability of the long border to Ukrainian incursions. He mentioned instructing the Russian military to create a "security buffer zone" but did not publicly disclose specifics regarding its location or extent. This isn't the first time such a zone has been mentioned; a year ago, Putin stated that a Russian offensive in Ukraine's northeastern Kharkiv region was aimed at creating a similar buffer. Such a zone, he implied, could help protect Russia's Belgorod border region, which has frequently been targeted by Ukrainian attacks, causing embarrassment for the Kremlin.
Despite months of intense diplomatic efforts, led by the US, to broker a ceasefire and gain momentum for peace talks, Moscow's invasion shows no signs of abating. While a significant prisoner exchange occurred after Russian and Ukrainian delegations met in Turkey earlier this month for their first direct talks in three years, these negotiations have unfortunately not led to any significant breakthroughs in resolving the wider conflict.
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