Ukraine’s defence forces have liberated the village of Bezsalivka in Sumy Oblast from Russian occupying forces, the General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces reported on 10 August.
The operation involved units from the 33rd Assault Regiment and 24th Assault Battalion, according to the General Staff’s statement. Ukrainian forces eliminated 18 Russian soldiers during the fighting, though this claim could not be independently verified.
Bezsalivka, a village of 91 residents located on the Volfa River at the border with Russia, sits within the Bilopillia territorial community. The village’s position places it approximately 30 kilometers west of heavier fighting elsewhere in Sumy Oblast, where Russian troops have advanced to within 30 kilometers of the regional capital.
According to Yurii Zark, head of the Bilopillia community, several residents remained in Bezsalivka as of early July despite refusing evacuation offers.
The liberation represents part of Ukraine’s recent counteroffensive efforts in the border oblast. Ukrainian forces pushed Russian forces out of several small villages at the end of July, following a period when Ukraine’s defence of the area stabilized over June.
The fighting intensifies more than two months after Russia opened this northeastern front. Russian forces made significant gains on Ukraine’s side of Sumy Oblast over May and June, shortly after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the military to begin creating a “security buffer zone” along the border with Ukraine.
The current operations follow Ukraine’s earlier successes in the oblast. On 25 July, the 225th Assault Regiment completed clearing and securing the village of Kindrativka in Sumy Oblast. In June, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced that defence forces had succeeded in pushing Russian troops from Sumy Oblast’s border areas, including the liberation of Andriivka.
The border areas have experienced increased fighting after Ukrainian forces withdrew from territory held in Russia’s neighboring Kursk Oblast, which was taken during Ukraine’s cross-border incursion in summer 2024.