Russians Attacked Border Areas of Sumy and Kharkiv Regions in an Attempt to Extend Front Line

The Russians attacked previously inactive border areas in Sumy and Kharkiv regions in order to expand the active front line. Pressure is being exerted on the Defense Forces both in new directions and through attempts to expand existing ‘bridgeheads.’

Analysts from the DeepState project reported on the new advances of Russian troops.

In particular, the enemy occupied the border village of Dyhtiarne (Chuhuiv district, Kharkiv region) and advanced to the border near Hrabivske (Sumy district, Sumy region) and Myropilliia (Sumy district, Sumy region).

For their attacks, the Russians chose areas where the Ukrainian border cuts deep into Russian territory, making it difficult to defend.

A new direction was the intensification of activity near the village of Myropilliia in Sumy region, where the Russians attacked and occupied part of the forest area close to the border. Fighting has been going on in the area of this settlement for a long time, but previously it was north of the settlement, while the new advance was recorded in the west.

Near the village of Hrabivske, the Russians have occupied several ravines near the border, expanding their zone of control near this settlement.

Fighting for this border village in the Sumy region has been ongoing since December 2025. At that time, the Russian military illegally transported about 50 residents who had previously refused to evacuate to other regions of Ukraine to the territory of the Russian Federation.

At the same time, military personnel do not confirm any advance south of Hrabivske. “Intelligence does not indicate this,” said Viktor Tregubov, head of the communications department of the Joint Forces Group, in a comment to the publication Suspilne Sumy.

The Russians also became active in the area of the village of Dyhtiarne in December 2025. After that, throughout January 2026, they repeatedly stormed this section of the border, also trying to break through to the neighboring villages of Nesterne and Kruhle.

“Our state border does not run in a straight line there, but cuts into Russia like an arrow. The sector that needs to be monitored is almost 270 degrees. The enemy can advance from any segment. At first, it was more or less calm. The enemy periodically shelled our positions, including once from a helicopter, but did not advance. In 2025, there were many drones in the air that constantly monitored us. And in December, the enemy became really active,” said a soldier from the Hart border brigade, nicknamed Nick, about the events near Dyhtiarne.

According to the military, the Russians are attacking mainly with large numbers of infantry groups without the use of equipment, which is why they are suffering heavy losses. Thus, during January, units of the Hart border brigade neutralized more than half a thousand invaders.

It should be noted that these are not the only previously inactive sections of the border where the Russians have been trying to advance since December 2025. In particular, the Russians attacked near the village of Komarivka in the Shostka district of the Sumy region and the village of Sotnytskyi Kozachok in the Bohodukhiv district of the Kharkiv region. However, the Defense Forces managed to repel the invaders and prevent their advance.

As a reminder, in May 2025, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced his decision to create a so-called ‘buffer security zone’ along the Russian-Ukrainian border.