Battle of Sumy

Battle of Sumy
Part of the northern Ukraine campaign of the Russian invasion of Ukraine

Storage building in Sumy after shelling during Russian invasion, 18 March 2022
Date24 February – 4 April 2022
(1 month, 1 week and 4 days)
Location
Sumy, Sumy Oblast, Ukraine
Result Ukrainian victory
Belligerents
Russia Ukraine
Units involved
  • 27th Artillery Brigade
  • 81st Airmobile Brigade (February)[1]
  • Territorial Defense Forces
    • Casualties and losses
    Per Ukraine:
    104 soldiers captured[2]    		 Per Ukraine:
    81+ killed[3][4][5]
    12+ wounded[6]
    Per Ukraine: At least 100 civilians killed[7][8][9][10]

    On 24 February 2022, the Russian army attempted to capture Sumy, located near the Russia–Ukraine border. Ukrainian paratroopers and territorial defense forces began engaging Russian forces within the city, resulting in heavy urban fighting and the destruction of a Russian tank column.[11][12][13][14] That evening, Ukraine's paratroopers were ordered to withdraw from the city, leaving the city's defense to a few thousand local volunteers armed with rifles, limited anti-tank weapons and no armed vehicles or heavy weaponry. After three to four days of failing to enter the city, the Russian military shifted to encircle and bypass the city, and were then subject to guerrilla ambushes.[15]

    On 4 April 2022, Governor of Sumy Oblast Dmytro Zhyvytskyi stated that Russian troops no longer occupied any towns or villages in Sumy Oblast and had mostly withdrawn, while Ukrainian troops were working to push out the remaining units.[16]

    1. ^ Крахматова, Діана; Члек, Крістіна (28 January 2023). ""Втримати Суми за будь-яку ціну". Як бійці 81-ї бригади розбили росіян під колишнім артучилищем". Suspilne (in Ukrainian). Retrieved 2 March 2024.
    2. ^ "More than 100 Russian servicemen taken prisoner in Sumy region". Ukrinform. 12 March 2022. Archived from the original on 13 March 2022. Retrieved 12 March 2022.
    3. ^ "Зеленський підписав указ про загальну мобілізацію". 24 Канал (in Ukrainian). 25 February 2022. Retrieved 25 February 2022.
    4. ^ Христенко, Лілія (27 February 2022). "У результаті бойових дій загинули два захисники з Білопілля. Про це 27 лютого повідомив Білопільський міський голова Юрій Зарко". Суспільне | Новини. Archived from the original on 27 February 2022. Retrieved 27 February 2022.
    5. ^ "На Сумщині в боротьбі з диверсантами загинули двоє прикордонників". 27 February 2022. Archived from the original on 27 February 2022. Retrieved 27 February 2022.
    6. ^ Skakun, Serhey (26 February 2022). "На Сумщині за день близько сотні поранених, 4 – загиблих" [In the Sumy region about a hundred wounded, 4 dead] (in Ukrainian). Dancor Online. Archived from the original on 27 February 2022. Retrieved 28 February 2022. Суми: поранених 12 [Amounts: 12 wounded]
    7. ^ "У Сумах обстріляли цивільне авто з дорослими та дітьми — загинула жінка". 27 February 2022. Archived from the original on 28 February 2022. Retrieved 27 February 2022.
    8. ^ "ГОЛОВНЕ ЗА ДЕНЬНОВИНИТОП ТЕМА При обстрілах Сум загинули троє". 27 February 2022. Archived from the original on 27 February 2022. Retrieved 27 February 2022.
    9. ^ "Russian forces attack residential area, killing one". Archived from the original on 27 February 2022. Retrieved 27 February 2022.
    10. ^ "Sumy governor: More than 100 civilians killed". NHK Japan. 14 April 2022. Retrieved 21 April 2022.
    11. ^ "Ukrainian soldiers clash with Russians in a fierce fight near Sumy, a regional capital located near the border with Russia". The Kyiv Independent. 24 February 2022. Retrieved 25 February 2022.
    12. ^ Röpcke, Julian [@JulianRoepcke] (24 February 2022). "#Breaking #NewsMap The Putin regime army captured the city of #Sumy (264.000 inhabitants) in N-E #Ukraine. There seems to be no fighting and Russia tanks control the center. #PutinAtWar https://t.co/Fmjrt7BwZ9" (Tweet). Archived from the original on 25 February 2022. Retrieved 28 February 2022 – via Twitter.
    13. ^ Röpcke, Julian [@JulianRoepcke] (24 February 2022). "Heavy urban fighting in Sumy. Seems some Ukrainian partisans are fighting the Russian occupiers. https://t.co/s7mmAsNcRb" (Tweet). Archived from the original on 26 February 2022. Retrieved 28 February 2022 – via Twitter.
    14. ^ @BNONews (25 February 2022). "WATCH: Heavy urban fighting in the Ukrainian city of Sumy – NYT" (Tweet). Retrieved 25 February 2022 – via Twitter.
    15. ^ Isobel Koshiw (2 January 2023). "How Sumy's residents kept Russian forces out of their city". The Guardian. Retrieved 3 March 2024.
    16. ^ Russian troops no longer hold any settlements in Ukraine's Sumy region, says governor, National Post (4 April 2022)