“Border guards disrupted an enemy attempt to breach the
border into Sumy Oblast,” the agency said.
The statement noted that assault groups of Russian forces
were eliminated. Operators from a border guard drone unit destroyed enemy quad
bikes, communications equipment, and assault teams attempting to cross into
Ukrainian territory.
Earlier, Commander-in-Chief of Ukraine’s Armed Forces
Oleksandr Syrskyi said in an interview published April 9 that Russian troops
had effectively begun offensive operations in Sumy and Kharkiv oblasts.
Ukraine’s General Staff later clarified that Syrskyi’s
remarks were “a statement of fact, not a reason for panic or hype.”
According to the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), by
launching an assault in Sumy Oblast, Russian forces are likely trying to
establish a so-called “buffer zone” along the border. They may also seek to
position artillery close enough to the city of Sumy to make it uninhabitable
for civilians.