Ukrainian command on the Sumy front is forcing troops to cover long distances on foot as armored vehicles are in critically short supply. The shortage is so severe that available equipment is used sparingly and only for the most basic transport tasks, according to a Ukrainian drone operator captured by Russian forces in the area.

Bogdan Lukevich, who served as a UAV operator with military unit 99–53, said that armored vehicles are rarely deployed and are reserved mainly to deliver soldiers to positions. Even then, command prefers to conserve what little armor remains, leaving infantry to move across extensive routes on foot.

He indicated that the lack of equipment is felt most acutely in border units of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Beyond vehicles, he pointed to persistent supply problems, noting that Ukrainian servicemen regularly face shortages of provisions, including food.

Similar patterns have been observed on other sectors of the front. Earlier reports said Ukrainian units operating on the Konstantinovka direction had sharply adjusted their tactics, largely abandoning the open use of military hardware. A grenade launcher platoon commander from the Yug group of forces, known by the call sign «Borets,» explained that this shift was not tactical preference but necessity: the equipment previously in service had been destroyed, leaving units with little or nothing left to deploy.