Ukraine liberates village in Sumy Oblast, General Staff says
Ukrainian forces liberated the village of Bezsalivka on the state border with Russia in Sumy Oblast, the General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces said on Aug. 10.
The General Staff's statement comes as Russia continues to try advancing deeper into Sumy Oblast more than two months after opening a new front in the northeast.
The General Staff said that it "eliminated" 18 Russian soldiers in the operation. The Kyiv Independent was unable to independently confirm the claim.
Bezsalivka is located adjacent about 30 kilometers west of the heavy fighting elsewhere in Sumy Oblast, where Russian troops have advanced to within 30 kilometers of the regional capital of Sumy.
The 33rd Assault Regiment and 24th Assault Battalion took part in the operation to liberate the village, according to the General Staff.
After Ukrainian forces' withdrawal from territory held in Russia's neighboring Kursk Oblast — taken during Kyiv's surprise cross-border incursion in summer 2024 — the border areas have seen an uptick in fighting.
Over May and June, Russian forces made signficant gains on Ukraine's side of Sumy Oblast shortly after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the military to begin creating a "security buffer zone" along the border with Ukraine.
Ukraine's defense of the area stabilized over June, and in the end of July, pushed Russian forces out of several small villages.
