Russians abduct four residents of occupied village in Sumy Oblast

Olha Kyrylenko, VALENTYNA ROMANENKO - 26 June, 18:23

The situation in northern Sumy Oblast. The territories in green are controlled by Ukraine; those in red are occupied by Russia. Map: DeepState

Russian forces have abducted four residents of Kostiantynivka, a village in the Khotin hromada of Sumy Oblast, and taken them to Russia.

Source: Mykola Torianyk, head of the Khotin hromada, in a comment to Kordon.Media, an online media outlet in Sumy Oblast [a hromada is an administrative unit designating a village, several villages, or a town, and their adjacent territories – ed.]

Details: Torianyk said that one of the abducted residents had not been in contact, prompting his daughter to search for him. She later received a call from a relative in Russia’s Voronezh Oblast, who informed her that her father was in Russia – along with three other people from the same village.

Local journalists say there are no civilians left in Kostiantynivka now. They had previously reported that Russian forces were present in the village and several other settlements in the hromada.

Why this matters: This is the first known report of Ukrainian civilians being abducted from Russian-occupied villages in Sumy Oblast. The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine has not officially acknowledged the loss of any territory in the northeastern part of the oblast near the Russian border.

Ukrainska Pravda has learned that some residents of Kindrativka and Kostiantynivka managed to escape the occupation by leaving on foot.

Assault operations by the Ukrainian defence forces are ongoing in and around the occupied villages. Sources among the troops told Ukrainska Pravda that Ukraine’s forces are advancing in the villages of Kindrativka and Yunakivka. The situation remains difficult south of Yunakivka, near the village of Sadky and the surrounding forests. The Russians appear to be attempting to maintain control of the seized territory as a "buffer zone" rather than advancing towards the city of Sumy. Ukraine's defence forces are working to push them back to the border.

Background:

On 26 June, Oleksandr Syrskyi, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, announced that Ukrainian forces had halted the advance of Russian troops in the border areas of Sumy Oblast, stabilising the front line.
On 15 June, Oleh Hryhorov, Head of the Sumy Oblast Military Administration, stated that the population of 213 settlements in Sumy Oblast had to be evacuated. At that time, he said, over 60% of residents had already moved out of the dangerous areas. In 60 of the settlements where evacuation is ongoing, all of the residents have left.

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