Analysts noted that while Russian forces sustained their ground operations, they achieved no confirmed advances. Occupiers are trying to establish a buffer zone in the border area of Sumy Oblast and claim to have captured four villages and occupied 90 square kilometers of territory.
ISW confirmed that Russian forces have seized control of Novenke, Basivka, Zhuravka, and Veselivka, all located northeast of Sumy. As of April 26, Russian troops had occupied around 54 square kilometers in Sumy Oblast, analysts said.
On April 25 and 26, Russian forces launched attacks northeast of Sumy, targeting areas near Zhuravka, Bilovody, and Loknya.
Russian preparations for a new offensive
In late March, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned that the Russian army was preparing an offensive on Sumy and Kharkiv oblasts, possibly starting in April or May.
AFU Commander-in-Chief, Oleksandr Syrskyi, said in an interview published on April 9 that Russian forces had already effectively begun their offensive operations in these directions. The General Staff later clarified that Syrskyi’s statement was “a statement of fact, not a cause for panic or hype.”
On April 17, Zelenskyy said Russia had amassed around 60,000 troops in the Sumy direction but still lacked enough forces for a full-scale offensive.
On April 21, after visiting Sumy Oblast, Syrskyi reported that intense fighting continued both in Sumy Oblast and across the border in Russia's Kursk Oblast, where Russian troops are trying to push Ukrainian forces back and seize additional border areas.