Russian forces are just 12 miles away from this North Regional Capital Ukrainea new target for Moscow, as the Kremlin is based on the advantage of its human resources throughout the front, according to the Wall Street Journal. Having almost completely expelled Ukrainian forces from the Russian region of Kursk earlier this year, Russian forces have now been pushed beyond the border in the opposite direction to the Summy. With 50,000 soldiers in the area, they outnumber the Ukrainians about 3 to 1, according to soldiers fighting on the spot.

“Their main strategy,” said General Oleksandr Syrskiy, a Supreme Military Commander of Ukraine, to the Russians, “is to exhaust us with their numbers.”

The Russian advance to Sumi is coming as US President Donald Trump has begun to express a growing frustration over the Kremlin’s reluctance to mediate for a ceasefire. Although meetings between Ukrainian and Russian officials recently took place in Turkey, Moscow has intensified its attacks with rockets and drones in Ukrainian cities. The weekend, Ukraine lost an F-16 fighter aircraft and its pilot during a one Air bombardment, the largest of the start of the war In terms of number of ammunition fired.

In the last year, the front line has increased by more than 100 miles, Syrskiy said, and now extends to a bow from the northeast to the south, to more than 750 miles. The Russians make evaluations in various parts of the line and then push hard when they find a point that gives them the opportunity to advance, as they did in Sumi last month. Ukrainian generals are trying to fill the gaps with select teams.

Earlier this month, Ukraine sent select units to stabilize the situation. Since then, Russian raids in Sumi have stopped largely and Ukraine has recovered some territories. “We are now looking for ways to carry out our own attacks and repel the enemy,” said Timur, commander of the Timur Special Forces unit, a select unit that has been fighting in the area for several weeks.

It is not an easy task for Ukrainian forces, which are lagging behind almost everywhere on the whole front. “Their number is a big problem for us, though not enough to overcome us,” said Kappa, commander of the Chimera Unit of the Timur Unit. “The enemy loses 300 to 400 people a day across the area. But they can deal with this level of loss … they continue to bring back backups. “

Earlier this month, a group of about twelve men from the Timur Special Forces Unit began an attack in a village under Russian occupation north of Sumi. But as they reached about half a half of the road to the village, they fell on a Russian group coming from the other direction. For the next seven hours, they were found in the trench, as the Russians, who were significantly more, were trying to encircle them.

“It was the toughest battle I’ve ever had,” said Mark, the 25 -year -old Ukrainian team commander. “They attacked infantry, unmanned aircraft, grenade launchers, machine guns, artillery, ammunition. Everything … We never had more than a five -minute break as they were reconstituted, “he added.

Mark said his team killed five Russians during the battle, which often pushed a squad to retreat, but noted that Russian troops were better trained than others he had faced. They continued to push forward to understand the trench. The videos of the battle from the soldiers’ cameras, seen by the Wall Street Journal, show a almost continuous barrage, with constant shots. Mark asks for bumps with pounds and is often pressured to the edge of the taravar as he hears the artillery whistle approaching. The team’s machine gun threw 5,500 bullets during the battle.

In the end, they decided to retreat, while drones and drones were beating around them. The whole team managed to return, though three of them suffered wounds from shooting that were not deadly. The whole team suffered a concussion. “I am really happy to have made them all alive,” Mark said. “We were in a very difficult situation.” However, the soldiers in the area say that Sumi’s defense has a higher human cost than the necessary.

During the semester that Ukraine occupied ground in its Kursk area Russiathe soldiers who fought there said they assumed that the army would prepare strong defensive positions on the Ukrainian side of the border. Instead, after a chaotic and expensive retreat from Kursk, they found very old trenches, with no drones. The soldiers are now digging their own positions under the fire of unmanned aircraft in some cases. They also complained that the areas in which the Russians are now going on were not narcoted.

“It’s like preparing for battle tanks, not a battlefield where dozens of drones are hit daily,” said one infantry commander named Kyrylo, who fought in Kursk and is now fighting in Sumi. “Every day that a place is not ready is a day that one may not return.”

Asked about the fortifications last week, Defense Minister Rustem Umero said the defense lines in Sumi were improving in the endangered areas. “The fortification is not just about trenches – it is an adaptive system that takes into account the enemy’s tactics and always serves one purpose: the protection of our warriors.”