Over 1,000 people flee Sumy border area in three days – regional military administration

Over a thousand individuals, including 200 children, have been evacuated from the Sumy region border in the past few days.

The head of the Sumy Regional Military Administration, Volodymyr Artiukh, stated this on the air of the Yedyni Novyny telethon.

Evacuation is currently underway from the 10-kilometer border zone in the Sumy region from the settlements of Bilopillia and Vorozhba.

The regional military administration notes that people are housed in prepared buildings with the help of other communities.

Evacuation usually takes place within the region. However, individuals who wish to travel to other regions are given the opportunity to do so—specifically, Poltava, Kyiv, and the western regions provide assistance.

Currently, it is necessary to evacuate about 6,000 more people.

Artiukh emphasized that people will be removed from the 5-kilometer zone starting in July 2023. About 14,000 people, 2,250 children, were evacuated during this time.

^{Photo: Sumy Regional Military Administration}

However, there are still many families who have not yet left. As a result, the authorities have reported that there were 45 fatalities at the border, along with 13 children who were wounded.

"The situation in Velyka Pisarivka was quite challenging as many disregarded the warnings and did not evacuate on time. As a result, our soldiers were forced to conduct military-style evacuations, putting themselves at risk. It's truly regrettable," Artiukh said.

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It should be noted that in March, the Russian military intensified shelling of the Sumy region.

Given this context, some communities in the region began forcibly evacuating families with children. This affected residents living near the border with Russia.

However, the Russian occupiers destroyed the bridge, which made it difficult to evacuate from the border village of Luhivka in the Sumy region.

Also, the regional military administration of the Sumy region introduced additional restrictions in 15 communities bordering Russia.

In addition, in the Sumy region, civilians were wholly evacuated from 27 villages in the border zone with Russia.

Volodymyr Artiukh, head of the Sumy Regional Military Administration, also signed an order to evacuate the cities of Bilopillia and Vorozhba.

In addition, the head of Ukraine's intelligence, Kyrylo Budanov, said that the Russian occupying forces may launch a new attack north of Kharkiv in the Sumy region.

Budanov stated that the Russians initially planned an operation in the Sumy region. However, the situation has not yet allowed the occupiers to act actively and implement their plan.