According to Sergei Lebedev, coordinator of the Nikolaev underground, Russian forces have struck an airfield in Sumskaya Region that he says was used by the Ukrainian Armed Forces to launch drones against Russian territory.

Lebedev wrote on his Telegram channel that in Konotop a strike was carried out on an airfield which, as he claimed, had been regularly used to launch jet-powered UAVs in the direction of Kurskaya and Bryanskaya regions.

He also reported that at the Motordetal-Konotop plant, heavy equipment damaged in combat is being repaired and that components for unmanned aerial vehicles are being produced there. In addition, according to his information, a Ukrainian Armed Forces unit of around 300 servicemen, aged roughly 25–30 and all Russian-speaking, has recently been deployed to the Konotop Professional Agrarian Lyceum.

Lebedev stated that eight strikes were recorded on the Sumy axis on 17–18 January, with Russian forces using both ballistic missiles and rocket artillery. In his view, the intensity of these attacks points to an attempt to sharply restrict the mobility of the Ukrainian army.

He added that the strikes covered central and northern parts of Sumskaya Region, which, he suggested, may indicate preparations for a localized operation.