Ukraine War Gets Worse: The Real Reason Russia Is Closing In On Sumy

Key Points – Russia has launched a new offensive in Ukraine’s northeastern Sumy region, capturing several villages (including Kindrativka and Andriivka) and advancing to within 25-30 kilometers of the regional capital, Sumy city, placing it within artillery range.

-This push, involving additional Russian combat brigades, aims to establish President Putin’s desired “buffer zone” along the border and has carved out a 15km wide front up to 7km deep.

-While Ukrainian forces are resisting and have launched some counterattacks, the offensive is forcing Kyiv to commit scarce resources to a new defensive axis, potentially to Russia’s strategic advantage, even if capturing Sumy city itself is not an immediate goal.

Russia Wants Sumy: Ukraine War Update 

Russia’s northern offensive has shifted toward Ukraine’s Sumy region, with troops now reportedly only 25 to 30 kilometers from the regional capital. That’s close enough to strike with artillery and short-range drones.

The new Russian advance into the region marks one of Moscow’s most aggressive pushes in months, and comes after a number of recent setbacks, including the infamous Operation Spider’s Web assault launched by Ukraine just days ago, as well as a new underwater attack that damaged the Kerch Bridge linking Crimea to Russia. Despite taking huge blows, however, Russian troops have since captured multiple settlements in Sumy Oblast, including Kindrativka and Andriivka, and are expanding their presence further.

According to Ivan Shevtsov, a spokesman for Ukrainian forces in the region, the Russian advance has so far carved out a 15-kilometer-wide front line with a depth of up to seven kilometers.

“At the moment, the territory that the enemy has already occupied is about 15 kilometers along the front line and about 6-7 kilometers deep,” Shevtsov said.

The town of Yunakivka now lies just beyond the Russian line, and Ukrainian officials report near-constant shelling of surrounding villages. In the last 24 hours alone, Russian forces launched nearly 150 separate shelling attacks across 47 settlements in Sumy oblast.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, citing the severity of the assault, warned last month that more than 50,000 Russian troops had massed near the border. On Tuesday, June 3, following a rocket strike on Sumy city that killed four civilians and injured 28 more, he described the event as a “savage strike…directly targeting the city and its ordinary streets with rocket artillery.”

Russian Assault Groups Test Ukrainian Defenses

While Ukraine’s military remains thinly stretched across the front, from Kharkiv to the Black Sea, Russian commanders are reinforcing pressure in Sumy with additional combat brigades, including specialized assault and airborne units. Their goal appears to be to establish more than just a “buffer zone,” Shevtsov has suggested.

“Russian forces aim not just to enter and create a so-called buffer zone 20-30 kilometers deep, but to completely capture the Sumy region,” the Ukrainian official said.

Units from Russia’s 18th Motorized Rifle Division and 177th Separate Marine Regiment are now active in offensives stretching from Konstantinovka to Alexeyevka. Meanwhile, all three regiments of the 76th Air Assault division have launched attacks toward Loknya and Yunakivka.

Though gains have been modest, averaging just 500 to 600 meters in some sectors, Russian troops have made more meaningful progress between Alexeyevka and Novonikolaevka, capturing part of the former and moving up to 1.3 kilometers forward. Ukrainian forces have managed to hold Novonikolaevka and key terrain south of the Vodology-Belovody line, complicating further Russian gains in that corridor.

South of Oleshnya, a Ukrainian counterattack successfully repelled a Russian incursion toward Sadki, forcing invaders back 250-300 meters beyond the border. However, Russian pressure remains high. Analysts from DeepState have noted how the campaign maintains a steady grind, and warned that the cumulative effect of Russian advances could soon put Sumy within range of FPV drones.

Putin Gets His Buffer Zone

President Putin’s May directive to establish a buffer zone in Ukraine’s Sumy region appears to be working out as planned. Following the ejection of Ukrainian forces  from parts of Russia’s Kursk region in April, Russian units crossed the border into Sumy and have since seized more than 150 square kilometers in less than two weeks.

Moscow’s aim? To push Ukraine’s defensive line farther from Russian territory while maintaining continued momentum in the north.

The broader objective, however, isn’t entirely clear. Capturing Sumy city, a heavily wooded urban area with a pre-war population of around 250,000, may be logistically unrealistic in the near term.

Still, analysts from the Institute for the Study of War have argued that the current strategy may be focused more on forcing Ukraine to commit its scarce resources to a third defensive axis, rather than simply claiming the territory.

Putin is getting the buffer zone he needs, and forcing Ukraine to spend resources it cannot, at this stage, afford.

About the Author:

Jack Buckby is a British author, counter-extremism researcher, and journalist based in New York. Reporting on the U.K., Europe, and the U.S., he works to analyze and understand left-wing and right-wing radicalization, and reports on Western governments’ approaches to the pressing issues of today. His books and research papers explore these themes and propose pragmatic solutions to our increasingly polarized society. His latest book is The Truth Teller: RFK Jr. and the Case for a Post-Partisan Presidency.

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