State Border Guard Service on situation in Hrabovske, Sumy Oblast: Russia is failing to advance deeper

In the area of the village of Hrabovske in Sumy Oblast, located directly on the border with Russia, Russian troops are attempting to attack and advance deeper into Ukraine, but the defence forces are holding their positions and inflicting fire damage on the Russians.

Source: Andrii Demchenko, spokesperson for the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine, on air with the national joint 24/7 newscast

Quote: "If we speak about the border with Russia in general, there are many such settlements. The Russians who have entered them and are trying to advance deeper into our territory have not been successful. Units of the defence forces, including the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the State Border Guard Service, are preventing the enemy from doing so, using artillery and drones, among other means."

Details: According to the spokesperson, at the start of the Russians' active operations, Ukrainian units were forced to withdraw from certain positions, but Russian forces failed to advance beyond the settlement.

Ukrainian soldiers and border guards are continuing to use artillery and drones to strike the Russians.

"I will reiterate: the enemy is failing to advance beyond this settlement, fire damage is being inflicted on it, and the positions held by our servicemen are being maintained," Demchenko said.

He also reported that Russian troops remain active in certain sections of the border within the Khotin and Yunakivka hromadas in Sumy Oblast, but the intensity of attacks there has decreased and the Russians are achieving no results. [A hromada is an administrative unit designating a village, several villages, or a town, and their adjacent territories – ed.]

Background:

• On 23 December, DeepState, a Ukrainian group of military analysts, reported that Russian troops were in control of the village of Hrabovske in Sumy Oblast.
• On 22 December, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Russian forces had taken 52 civilians captive from the village of Hrabovske in Sumy Oblast, including children, and had also captured 13 members of Ukraine's defence forces.
• Earlier, Kordon.Media reported that on the night of 19-20 December, Russian troops entered the border village of Hrabovske in Sumy Oblast. The village is located directly on the state border.
• The following day, the Armed Forces of Ukraine confirmed that Russian troops had crossed Ukraine's state border near the village of Hrabovske in Sumy Oblast, on the border with Russia, and had taken more than 50 civilians from there. According to the military, "stabilisation measures" are currently under way in the area.
• DeepState also reported that a group of Ukrainian soldiers responsible for holding the border section in the village of Hrabovske in Sumy Oblast had acted irresponsibly in carrying out their tasks, which allowed Russian forces to enter the area.

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