| Northern Ukraine border skirmishes | |||||||||
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| Part of theRussian invasion of Ukraine | |||||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||||
| Russia | Ukraine | ||||||||
| Units involved | |||||||||
 Russian Border Guard322nd Spetsnaz Training Center | |||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
| 4 civilians killed, 3 injured[1] | |||||||||
A series of border skirmishes has taken place along theRussia–Ukraine border inSumy andChernihiv Oblasts since thewithdrawal of Russian troops from northern Ukraine. Ukrainian officials have stated that strikes across the border happen daily.
By the 4th of April 2022, Russian forces had withdrawn from theSumy Oblast following the failure of theRussian offensive towards Kyiv, but shelling still continued across the border.
Local authorities in theKursk Oblast announced on 29 March that a border checkpoint had been shelled from Ukrainian territory. The location in Ukraine from which the shelling was carried out was reportedly struck in return.[2]
The same day, according to Sumy Oblast governor Dmytro Zhyvytskyi, the Russian military blew up one of its ownBTRs at theRyzhivka border checkpoint, in order to provide a justification to destroy the Ukrainian border post there.[3]
The governor of the Kursk Oblast announced that a border post in theSudzhansky District had been shelled by mortars on 5 April, and that the points of origin, presumably in Ukraine, had been fired on in retaliation.[4] On 9 April, he announced that another border post had been shelled by mortars, this time inYelizavetovka [ru]. The Russian border service and military returned fire into Ukraine.[5]
On 14 April, the Russian military shelled the village ofPopivka, Okhtyrka Raion.[6]
According to the Ukrainian Border Guard Service, Russian troops fired at the Chernihiv Oblast twice on 28 April. The following day, more than 30 mortars were fired into the Sumy Oblast from the Russian settlement ofGorodishche [ru]. Explosions were reported in theShostka Raion.[7]
The Russian military shelledHlukhiv with rocket launchers on 8-9 May, damaging aJewish cemetery.[8][9]
On 12 May, a civilian was killed due to the shelling.[1] On 13 May, Russia fired on a border village in the Shostka district using unguidedair missiles.[10]
As shelling continued, Russian forces defeated a few elements of theUkrainian Border Guard and entered Shostka district on 16 May.[11] Fighting continued until 17 May, when the Russian forces withdrew.[12]
On 17 May 2022, anairstrike by theRussian Air Force hit theDesna barracks inDesna, killing 87.[13] The next day, ten explosions were heard in Hlukhiv.[14]
On 21 May, 6 Russian air strikes and artillery hit the border settlement ofKucherivka.[15]
Planes of theRussian Air Force hit two villages in Shostka on 24 May.[16]
On 28 May, Russian warplanes targeted the Ukrainian border and fired on the border with mortars from the Russian village ofTroebortnoe [ru].[17]
Russian forces usedflechettes on border villages in the Shostka district on 30 May. The flechettes were used to previouslykill civilians inBucha during theBattle of Bucha earlier in the war. Russian forces shelled a village all night.[18] According toKyiv Independent, Russian forces shelled at the border more than 20 times from the Russian village ofZyornovo.[19]
On 4 June, Russian aircraft destroyed a locality on the border from 6 missiles being deployed inMykolayivka.[20] Three hours later explosions blew up acrossVelyka Pysarivka Raion in Sumy Oblast. Shelling was also reported inNovhorod-Siversky Raion inChernihiv Oblast.
On 8 June, Russian forces destroyed a building of the Ukrainian Border Control from the Russian border checkpoint of Troebortnoe.[21]
Russian forces fired 7 times on 10 June. The mortars and artillery were fired from Zyornovo andStrachovo [ru] in Bryansk Oblast. Around four villages were destroyed in Sumy and Chernihiv Oblasts.[22]
On 19 June, Russian forces fired mortars on the city ofSeredyna-Buda in Sumy Oblast. A huge fire was caused and residents had to evacuate the city.[23]
Russian forces fired 20 missiles into the town ofDesna in Chernihiv Oblast on 25 June. Ukrainian officials claimed that the Russian military had fired the missiles fromBelarus.[24]
One person was killed and one injured as Russian troops fired onYunakivka,Bilopillia,Krasnopillia andShalyhyne on 26 June in Sumy Oblast. Around 150 projectiles were launched with Krasnopillia suffering the most, as Zhyvytskyi said "it was destroyed."[25]
On June 27, Zhyvytskyi stated that Russians attacked thehromadas of Krasnopillia and Bilopillia, leaving one person injured.[26]
Shots were heard in Krasnopilla,Velyka Pysarivka, andKhotin on 30 June. Around 70 shots were fired on Krasnopilla, 10 missile strikes on Velyka Pysarivka, and 120mm mortars on Khotin.[27] Mortar strikes were also reported inSemenivka.
Russian forces shelled numerous border towns including Hlukhiv on July 1.[28]
Russian forces fired with artillery and mortars on Sumy Oblast 3 times on 3 July.[29] Russian forces fired at Shalyhyne in Shostka Raion with 12 strikes recorded. Russian troops then fired onEsman. Later that day, 14 mortar projectiles were launched again on Shalyhyne.[30]
On 4 July, a Russian helicopter fired at an Esman school.[31]
On 5 July, Russian troops launched a missile strike on the city ofShostka in whichprivate enterprises were destroyed and around 24 residential buildings were damaged.[32] Russian forces also fired on Semenivka in Chernihiv Oblast.[33]
Russian forces fired on Shalyhyne, Bilopillia,Znob-Novhorodske and Krasnopillia on 12 July with Krasnopillia getting hit twice with rocket launchers.[34]
On 13 July, four villages in Sumy Oblast were shelled.[35]
On 16 July, Russian forces destroyed a farm and a school in Esman.[36]
On 17 July, Russian troops shelled Velyka Pysarivka, Krasnopillia, Khotin, Bilopillia, Shalyhyne,Nova Sloboda, Sumy Oblast, Esman, and Seredyna-Buda in Sumy Oblast as well asSnovsk in Chernihiv Oblast.[37]
Explosions were reported onHlukhiv on 18 July, with no casualties reported. Shalyhyne also suffered attacks as well as Khotin.Mykolayivka [uk] was attacked fromMRLS.[38]
On 24 July, Russian forces fired at the Sumy Oblast 12 times, primarily the villages of Shalyhyne, Mykolayivka, Bilopillia, Khotin, Yunakivka, and Krasnopillia. One person was reportedly killed and 2 military aircraft fired on Mykolayivka. Later that day, Ukrainian officials admitted that Sumy and Chernihiv Oblasts were fired on every day.[39]
Explosions were heard across the border with Sumy Oblast where 55 were reported on 26 July. One woman was injured.[40] The villages targeted were Esman, Krasnopillia, and Seredyna-Buda. Explosions were also heard in Chernihiv Oblast[41] Over 20 explosions were reported.
Russian forces shelled Sumy Oblast 44 times on 28 July.[42][43] The same day Russian forces on Belarusian territory launched missiles onHoncharivske in Chernihiv Oblast.[44]
Russian troops heavily shelled Semenivka in Chernihiv Oblast on 29 July. The city's administrative building was heavily damaged.[45]
On 17 March, aUkrainianMil Mi-24 helicopter was shot down in Sumy Oblast near theRussia–Ukraine border.[46]
On the same day, Russian sabotage groups failed to cross the border into Sumy after Ukrainian forces intercepted them.[47]
Ukrainian forces struck Russian military targets on 1 and 2 June in Belgorod and Kursk oblasts, including a column of Russian vehicles inSudzha.[48] Ukrainian sources stated that the column consisted of 18 Russian vehicles. Additionally, Russian governmental and milblogger sources reported that a UkrainianMLRS strike onShebekino killed the Deputy Head ofKorochansky Raion, Igor Nechiporenko, and injured several other local administrators.[48] Both Russian and Ukrainian sources reported on 2 June that both sides were transferring personnel to the Sumy-Kursk border.[48]
On 9 June, a Ukrainian fixed-wing crewed aircraft struck a Russian command post in Belgorod Oblast, marking the first time a crewed Ukrainian airplane has performed a strike on Russian territory.[49]
On 9 June,Ramzan Kadyrov, the head of Chechnya, stated that the Russians captured the village ofRyzhivka in Sumy Oblast of Ukraine, located near the border, next to the Russian settlement ofTyotkino.[50] TheUkrainian State Border Guard Service and President Zelenskyy denied that the village was under Chechen control.[51][52][53] Geolocated footage confirmed that Russian forces had entered the village and had advanced 730 meters inside Ukraine.[54] The ISW assessed that the incursions "have not established a significant or enduring presence in this area".[54]
By 12 June, Ukrainian State Border Guard Service Spokesmen Andriy Demchenko stated that there was "almost no" activity of Russian forces operating in the Sumy direction.[55]
On 1 July, geolocated footage showed Ukrainian forces engaged in combat with another Russian cross-border raiding party at Zhuravka in Sumy Oblast.[56] The Ukrainian General Staff reported the next day that Russian forces were conducting sabotage and reconnaissance activities in Sumy and Chernihiv oblasts.[57] Geolocated footage showed a limited Russian presence in the forest outside Zhuravka.[57]
On 3 July, Russian forces continued to launch limited cross-border raids in Sumy oblast, with the oblast's headVolodymyr Artyukh reporting that the Russian forces weren't large enough to warrant a full incursion. The ISW assessed that the raids were meant to distract Ukraine and draw resources from thefront north ofKharkiv.[58]
On 18 July, Russian forces reportedly conducted a limited and unsuccessful cross-border raid into Sumy Oblast, failing to break through to Chuikivka, Rozhkovychi, and Sytne.[59]
On 31 July, a Russian insider source claimed that Ukrainian forces had ambushed elements of the Russian322nd Spetsnaz Training Center in theSemenivskyi Raion,Chernihiv Oblast border area.[60] The report claimed that 5 Russian Spetsnaz personnel were killed in the ambush, and that it had been covered up in order to save face in the wake of the defeat ofWagner personnel atan incident inMali.[60]
On 9 August, Russian authorities said that one person was killed in an aerial attack on the border town ofShebekino which also injured two people and damaged nine apartment buildings, 18 houses and 10 vehicles.[61]
On 15 November, a Russian sabotage and reconnaissance group conducted a limited incursion into Chernihiv Oblast raising the Russian flag over an abandoned apartment building without establishing any permanent presence in the villages ofHremyach,Kolos,Novoselydivka andMuravi. The Ukrainian State Border Service reported that the area where the raid took place is cut off from the rest of Ukraine by a river and are abandoned.[62] The next day, Ukrainian drones destroyed the Russian flags in Chernihiv.[63]
On 9 December 2024, Russian troops re-entered Sumy Oblast.[citation needed]
On 10 January 2025, geolocated footage showed Russian forces crossing the international border and entering Sumy Oblast, advancing west of Zhuravka and south of the village ofProkhody.[64] Ivan Shevtsov, spokesman for Ukraine’sSteel Border Brigade said on 14 January 2025 that Russian drones were actively hunting Ukrainian soldiers in Sumy Oblast and that the brigade was "in areas of active combat in Sumy Oblast and along the state border with Russia".[65][66]
On 7 March 2025, geolocated footage showed that Russian forces had advanced northwest ofBasivka and were concentrating forces inNovenke.[67]
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