As Russia's Sumy Offensive Collapses, Russian Bodies Pile Up

As Ukrainian forces withdrew from much but by no means all of their Kursk salient last month, the Kremlin ordered attacks to try to push them out entirely. But the Ukrainian withdrawal was largely orderly and well-planned, with units pulling back to well designed positions. As a result, the Russian assaults suffered massive casualties and failed. 

So Russia tried and end-around by attacking Ukraine's Sumy oblast. The problem for the Russians was that the losses they incurred in Kursk combined with Ukraine's surprise attack on Russian Belogorod left the Sumy offensive undermanned and without adequate armor or artillery support. The result is that Russia's Sumy effort is now collapsing, as have so many recent Russian offensive operations. JL

Euromaidan Press reports:

Initially, Russian forces attempted to overrun Ukrainian troops by assaulting the contingent as they withdrew from Kursk. (But), the Ukrainians had established solid fallback lines, forcing the Russians into a three-day battle, which delayed their advance. (So) the Russians decided to launch an offensive into Sumy Oblast. However, catastrophic losses sustained in Kursk undermined their ability to follow-up into Sumy. The lack of armored vehicles allowed the Ukrainians' artillery to inflict even more devastating losses on the Russian attacks. (And) the Ukrainian incursion into Belgorod forced the Russians' dwindling reserves to be urgently redirected to hold that Ukrainian advance into Russian territory. 

Today, there are a lot of interesting updates from the Kursk direction.

Here, Russians launched a new offensive into Ukrainian territory, trying to cut off the remaining Ukrainian forces in Kursk. However, as there are fallen soldiers piled up along the border, it quickly became clear that any hope for the Russians to launch their own incursion was too farfetched.

The Ukrainians forced the Russians into a three-day battle for Rubanshchina, which massively delayed their advances. Photo: Screenshot from the video

Initially, Russian forces attempted to overrun Ukrainian troops by directly assaulting the contingent as they withdrew from Kursk. However, the Ukrainians had established solid fallback lines at the villages of Gogolevka and Rubanshchina to secure their withdrawal, forcing the Russians into a three-day battle for the small settlement of Rubanshchina, which massively delayed Russian advances.

As it became clear that attempting to overrun the Ukrainians directly would lead to further failure, the Russians decided on an entirely different approach. Despite the larger part of the force having already successfully pulled back, the Russians still aimed to encircle and eliminate the remaining Ukrainian contingent in Kursk and Sumy.

Russia’s Sumy gambit collapses

To still claim victory, the Russians decided to launch an offensive into Sumy Oblast itself. The main focus of the Russian effort became capturing Novenke and Basivka and gaining direct fire control over the Sumy-Sudzha Highway, which remains the primary Ukrainian supply line for their efforts to the northeast. Securing the road would trap Ukrainian defenders and finally set conditions to capture at least some of the withdrawing Ukrainian forces. However, the Russians suffered from a massive drawback: catastrophic losses sustained in Kursk severely undermined their ability to launch a follow-up offensive into Ukrainian territories.

The Russians captured Novenke and Basivka in Sumy Oblast and gained fire control over the Sumy-Sudzha Highway. Photo: Screenshot from the video

 

According to various estimates, Russian forces suffered up to 55,000 casualties during 7,5 months of intense fighting and multiple failed counteroffensive attempts in Kursk. Notably, these losses far exceed the initial deployment of 50,000 soldiers Russians had initially moved to Kursk to repulse the Ukrainian incursion. It means that Russians had to move an increasingly large number of reserves from other sectors of the front—amongst them even wounded soldiers—as well as rely on the North Koreans to push the Ukrainians out finally. Ukrainian sources also report that the Russians have lost up to 2,100 vehicles in Kursk, including over 750 armored personnel carriers, infantry fighting vehicles, and tanks, resulting in a significant deficit in the Russian forces’ armored reserve at Kursk.

Russian forces sustained up to 55,000 casualties over 7.5 months of intense fighting, surpassing the initial 50,000 troops deployed to Kursk. Photo: Screenshot from the video

Scooters and civilian vehicles expose Russian desperation

While the exact number of Russian forces still present and combat-ready in this sector is unknown, it is clear they do not have the ability to launch their follow-up offensive to encircle even a part of the Ukrainian Kursk forces. As a result, geolocated footage shows that also here, Russian soldiers were forced to cross open fields to assault Ukrainian positions on foot, in civilian vehicles, and even on electric scooters.

Russian soldiers cross open fields to assault Ukrainian positions on foot. Photo: Screenshot from the video

Despite the lack of proper vehicles, Russians sent forth a continuous wave of assaults, hoping to overwhelm Ukrainians and accomplish their objectives through sheer numbers. Unfortunately for the Russians, the unarmored nature of the vehicles they used allowed the Ukrainians to leverage their artillery to inflict even more devastating losses on the Russian attacks. Additionally, Ukrainian drone operators, by this point, had time to completely relocate to the rear in Sumy, launching waves of drones at the constant Russian assault.

The evolving nature of Russian military capabilities in one of their most important sectors, that is, Kursk, highlights the desperate conditions the Russian military finds itself in. Additionally, the Ukrainian incursion into Belgorod only made the situation worse for the Russians, as the already dwindling number of reserves had to be urgently redirected to hold the second Ukrainian advance into Russian territory. With the active frontline now increasing by over a third, Russian forces quickly lost their ability to send continuous waves of soldiers into their flanking operation, as their efforts ultimately stalled.

Russian reserves had to be urgently redirected to hold the Ukrainian advance into Russia’s Belgorod Oblast. Photo: Screenshot from the video

Overall, the Russians attempted to achieve a breakthrough in Sumy Oblast of Ukraine and cut off the Ukrainian forces withdrawing from Kursk, but their lack of proper equipment ultimately doomed their offensive plans. With the Ukrainians having pulled most of their troops out already, the soldiers stand ready to repulse any future reintensified Russian efforts into Ukraine. However, dead Russian infantry piling up on the approaches and forests leading into Sumy make the prospect of any large-scale Russian offensive into Ukrainian territory increasingly unfeasible.