Occupiers cannot advance from Hrabovske further into Sumy region — Demchenko

Russian occupiers cannot advance from the village of Hrabovske further into the Sumy region. The enemy's forces currently number approximately 100 people.

According to Ukrinform, this was stated by Andrii Demchenko, spokesman for the State Border Guard Service, on television.

“The enemies cannot leave the settlement. Of course, they tried to attack the positions of Ukrainian defenders, which include units of the Armed Forces and the State Border Guard Service. Still, again, the enemy cannot expand the combat zone on the territory of our country,” Demchenko said.

According to him, the settlement is currently under fire from artillery and UAVs. Strikes are even being carried out on Russian territory to prevent the enemy from concentrating in this sector and attempting to storm the positions of Ukrainian infantry.

Responding to a question about the concentration of enemy forces in this sector, Demchenko said: "The enemy has currently deployed a total of about 100 of its servicemen, who have been trying to enter and concentrate forces for several days, but again, the enemy is suffering losses in personnel. And, as we can see, as of now, there is no significant concentration of the enemy in this sector."

As reported by Ukrinform, Viktor Tregubov, Head of Communications Department for the Joint Forces Task Force, said that Russian troops had entrenched themselves in the southern part of the border village of Hrabovske in the Sumy region, but were unable to advance further.

On the night of December 20, Russian troops crossed the Ukrainian border in the village of Hrabovske in the Sumy region and took more than 50 Ukrainian civilians to Russia.