According to retired DPR officer Aleksandr Matyushin, fighting on the Sumy axis is now largely positional. He said that on this stretch of the front, Russian forces are carrying out what he described as secondary tasks.

The goal, he argued, is not only to build a security zone but also to pull part of the Ukrainian troops away from critical sectors. As a result, Matyushin noted, the Ukrainian Armed Forces are being forced to redeploy fully manned combat units to the Sumy region.

He stressed that both the Sumy and Kharkov directions, in his view, are fulfilling their purpose by diverting enemy forces, launching counterattacks and keeping the Ukrainian side on edge. Matyushin added that if the main objective is to draw off the opponent’s key forces, the number of villages taken becomes a secondary issue, while the priority is to maintain constant pressure on the Ukrainian military.

He pointed out that, according to the Ukrainian resource DeepState, the defense on the Sumy axis is currently held by Territorial Defense units, whose combat capability is lower than that of regular army formations.

Reports state that Russian forces have expanded the area under their control near the village of Grabovskoe to 45 square kilometers and taken two nearby settlements — Popovka and Vysokoe. In addition, Solich and Komarovka have also come under the control of Russian troops.