Dmytro Lykhovii, an officer of the Main Communications Department of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, told the media that Russian invaders had indeed crossed the state border of Ukraine near the village of Hrabovske in the Sumy region on the border with Russia and taken more than 50 civilians from the region.
Points of attention
- Despite organized evacuations by the Sumy authorities, thousands of people, including children, have chosen not to leave, highlighting the urgent need for border area residents to evacuate.
- The situation underscores the ongoing conflict between Ukraine and Russia and the critical need for international intervention to protect civilians in the region.
Russians continue to kidnap Ukrainians
According to Lykhoviy, amid the enemy offensive, Ukrainian defenders withdrew from several positions in the Grabovskoye area. Stabilization operations have now begun on this section of the front, he specified.
In addition, it is officially confirmed that after the Russians captured the settlement, more than 50 Ukrainian civilians were forcibly deported to the territory of the aggressor country.
"They are mostly older men and women, one of them is 89 years old. Almost all of them had previously refused to evacuate deep into the territory of Ukraine," said an officer of the Main Communications Directorate of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
What is important to understand is that law enforcement is already investigating the forced deportation of civilians, and the Armed Forces of Ukraine consider this a violation of the Geneva Convention.
Against the backdrop of recent events, Ukrainian soldiers once again called on residents of border areas to evacuate.
The Sumy authorities organized this process — more than 30 thousand people have already been evacuated, almost 5,700 more people (including 38 children) did not agree, — emphasized Lykhovoi.
