Today, there is interesting news from the Sumy direction in northwestern Ukraine.

Here, Russian forces are on the verge of losing yet another stronghold, as Ukrainian advances isolate and dismantle their defenses with relentless precision. The

Ukrainians advanced into the next Russian-held village, while the Russian command fell back on its only tactic: throwing more troops into the slaughter, accelerating the collapse of the Sumy offensive. This sent shockwaves through the Kremlin, as Vladimir Putin himself has fired the general who was responsible for this grand operation.

Ukrainian forces isolate Oleksiivka

Ukrainian advances have cut off the village of Oleksiivka on three sides, leaving only a narrow tree line for Russian forces to move supplies and reinforcements. Even that passage is under constant Ukrainian fire control, as drones saturate the skies, preventing movement during the day, while artillery and precision strikes cover the night.

Russian sources admit command and control has effectively broken down near Oleksiivka, where Russian units are battered by endless Ukrainian strikes. For the troops trapped inside, there is little chance of meaningful support, and those Russians ordered to provide relief are eliminated even before nearing the village.

Desperate Russian tactics backfire

Fighting has reached the southern outskirts and even the center of the village, where Russian forces are clinging to positions under increasingly desperate conditions. Russian analysts themselves admit that Oleksiivka has turned into a meat grinder, with defenders being worn down day by day. For Ukraine, there is no rush to lose forces in frontal assaults, as the plan is to squeeze the pocket until collapse becomes inevitable.

Yet Russian commanders have refused to acknowledge reality, and instead of organizing an orderly retreat, they continue to demand assaults. In other directions, the Russians usually rely on sending 1 to 2 soldiers at a time to avoid detection, but here they are ordered forward in groups of 4 to 10 at a time, which only makes them more visible and easy targets.

Ukrainian drones picked them off in batches, turning misguided orders into slaughter. Anger has boiled over even among Russian military analysts, who accuse commanders of sacrificing troops to preserve their own reputations.

Failed relief attempts near Kindrativka

Efforts to relieve Oleksiivka from nearby sectors have fared no better. As previously reported, at Kindrativka, Russia redeployed an already understrength battalion to counterattack the Ukrainian flank and relieve pressure off the besieged Oleksiivka. Unfortunately for the Russian battalion, tactical cohesion and command had completely broken down, as their attacks devolved into successive waves of Russian troops trying to cross a reservoir under heavy Ukrainian fire.

Russian soldiers were tracked already on the approaches, and engaged with FPV kamikaze drones. Several Russian soldiers were even hunted as they leapt into the water itself, and were finished off nonetheless. Survivors were left stranded or cut down on the opposite bank, with the repeated failures highlighting Russia’s lack of reconnaissance and inability to adapt.

Lapin’s dismissal marks rare Kremlin move

The crisis has now caused a major military casualty, as Colonel General Alexander Lapin, supreme Commander of the Leningrad Military District, has finally been fired and dismissed from active service.

Lapin was already infamous for losing Lyman in 2022 during Ukraine’s Kharkiv counteroffensive and for presiding over the Ukrainian Kursk incursion in 2024, where he was not able to repel the Ukrainians as quickly as Russian political leadership desired, and with much too high casualties. Most recently, he commanded the Northern Grouping of Forces responsible for offensives in Kharkiv and Sumy, and under his leadership, Russia failed to secure any lasting buffer zone despite months of grinding attacks. Putin has traditionally avoided outright firing top commanders to prevent discontent within the military hierarchy, often instead reassigning them elsewhere. However, Lapin’s dismissal marks a rare break from this pattern, reflecting just how catastrophic the Sumy operation has been for the Russians.

Ukraine’s methodical strategy

Overall, the Ukrainian approach in Sumy is working exactly as intended. Instead of rushing forward, commanders are methodically isolating villages, cutting Russian supply routes, and then bleeding the trapped defenders dry until the settlement collapses. Oleksiivka is the latest proof of this method, with defenders already surrounded and reinforcements destroyed before they can make a difference. Russia’s refusal to adapt has cost them thousands of troops and now even a general. With General Lapin gone, Russia will shuffle the chain of command, but this cosmetic change will not reverse the structural problems within the Russian army, disrupting their logistics, planning, and morale.

In our regular frontline report, we pair up with the military blogger Reporting from Ukraine to keep you informed about what is happening on the battlefield in the Russo-Ukrainian war.