An offensive on Sumy region is currently impossible: expert explains why
Since early March, the occupiers have intensified their attacks on Sumy region. Every day they shell the region with artillery, guided aerial bombs and drones.
Russian shells hit civilian infrastructure, destroying administrative buildings, critical infrastructure, and private homes.
Because of this, about 5,000 people were evacuated from the border areas, and some experts began to suggest that the occupiers were preparing a new offensive on Sumy.
Fakty ICTV exclusively interviewed military expert and head of the Center for Military and Legal Studies Oleksandr Musienko to find out whether the occupiers are preparing to attack Sumy region.
Attack on Sumy region: is it possible
An attack on Sumy region is impossible in the current realities, says Oleksandr Musienko. However, it is very important for the Russian occupiers to create an image that it can happen.
According to the expert, there has been shelling in Sumy region since the beginning of the full-scale invasion. He cites several reasons why this is happening.
First, Russia is a terrorist state and shells the region simply because it can.
Second, the occupiers want to draw Ukrainian troops away from other areas.
The third reason is that by shelling Ukrainian territory, the Russian army is conducting training exercises.
– Live-fire exercises in real conditions. For example, about a month and a half ago, Russian military officers were taking an exam. They were sent to the territory of Ukraine to get their practice credit. That is, they had to enter the Sumy region, engage in a combat clash with border guards, or the National Guard, or the troops there, and leave. If he came out, he surrendered. If you didn’t come out, you didn’t turn yourself in. And many of them failed,” the expert said.
Sumy region on the map. Screenshot
Does Russia want to create a sanitary zone in Sumy region?
However, Musiyenko admits that the shelling of Sumy region has indeed increased in recent days. However, he rejects the version that this may be due to a special operation by the RDC, the Russian Freedom Legion and the Siberia Battalion.
– The RDC has the ability, on the contrary, to destroy some artillery, some calculation. So there is still some benefit from this. But Russia wants to tie it up. Putin wants to demonstrate that this is a response to the raids in Belgorod and Kursk regions and to sow panic. He wants people to say: “Ahh… they wouldn’t have done this if the RDC hadn’t left.” But this is not the case,” he says.
The second goal pursued by Russia is to show that talk of a sanitary zone is not just words. And that Russia has already started “clearing” Ukrainian territories.
– By the way, a sanitary zone is not exactly military terminology. A sanitary zone means a place that is uninhabitable as a result of man-made disasters, including nuclear ones. And Putin is turning these territories into simply uninhabitable places.
The third reason is the rotation of Ukrainian troops. The invaders hope that Ukraine will redeploy its forces from the hot spots to deter the occupiers during a possible offensive in the Sumy region.
– This is a very important point. No one talks about it, but it matters. Russia is watching and realizing that relatively “fresh” units are now being rotated to the rear, and they are supposed to replace brigades that have been in combat for a long time. Accordingly, these are fresh forces at the front, where Russia is trying to achieve results in the East. According to the Russian logic, they should go to Sumy region, while they will be advancing in the East,” Musiyenko emphasized.
Shelling of Sumy region
As a reminder, on the eve of March 18, Russian occupants shelled Konotop, Sumy region. Civilian infrastructure was destroyed, and residents of one of the neighborhoods lost heat and water supply in their homes.
On March 17, the occupiers bombed the center of the border village of Velyka Pysarivka. As a result, residents were left without gas supply due to damaged networks.
