Zelenskyy: Children are among civilians captured by Russia in Sumy Oblast

Russian forces have captured 52 civilians from the village of Hrabovske in Sumy Oblast, including some children, and taken 13 Ukrainian service members captive, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said.

Source: Zelenskyy during an event marking Ukraine's Diplomatic Service Day, as reported by Interfax-Ukraine

Quote: "Regarding Sumy: what happened there? There is a Ukrainian village on the border with Russia. It is on the territory of Ukraine, and partly on the territory of Russia. There were still 52 people there – Ukrainian citizens who had not evacuated…

I am astonished that there were children there. I'm honestly astonished that any parents could treat their children this way. These 52 people lived there and had some kind of interaction with the border guards on the territory of the Russian Federation.

I think they just didn't expect that the Russian military would take them away. As regards our military personnel, 13 of our service members were also captured."

Details: Zelenskyy said Ukrainian forces could have wiped the Russians out from a distance using artillery or drones, but they refrained from doing so to avoid killing civilians who were in the village.

Background:

• On 20 December, local media outlet Kordon.Media reported that Russian forces entered the border village of Hrabovske in Sumy Oblast on the night of 19-20 December.
• On 21 December, the Armed Forces of Ukraine confirmed that Russian forces had crossed the state border near Hrabovske and forcibly taken over 50 civilians to Russia. The military reported that stabilisation measures are currently underway there.
• DeepState, a Ukrainian group of military analysts, said that the group of Ukrainian fighters holding the border section in Hrabovske had acted irresponsibly in carrying out their tasks, which led to Russian forces entering the area.

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