Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced that Russia is transferring approximately 30,000 troops from the Sumy direction to three other front sectors after failing to achieve success in the northern region.
Accorrding to Zelenskyy, Russia began moving troops to the Zaporizhzhia and Pokrovsk directions.
The president outlined Russia’s preparations for offensive operations across three main directions: Zaporizhzhia, Pokrovsk, and Novopavlivka. According to Zelenskyy’s assessment, Russia plans to deploy approximately 15,000 additional troops to the Zaporizhzhia direction, around 7,000 to Pokrovsk, and about 5,000 to Novopavlivka.
Of the 53,000 Russian forces concentrated on the Sumy direction, approximately 30,000 will be redirected to these three sectors, according to the president’s assessment.
Zelenskyy emphasized that Russia’s strongest brigades currently positioned on the Kursk direction will be among those redeploying. “We believe this is the main source of troops, these are their strongest brigades that are standing on the Kursk direction, they will be moving,” he added.
The president provided a timeline for expected Russian preparations, saying they will prepare for offensive actions after the 15th and will be ready with these brigades by September. “We believe they will be ready by September with these brigades. We believe that with additional [forces] they may be ready in November,” Zelenskyy said.
According to the president, these three directions were targeted by Russia a year ago, and Russian forces are operating according to the same plans and maps. Zelenskyy said that the offensive mission on Zaporizhzhia and Pokrovsk was delayed by a year due to the Kursk operation.
The president suggested that throughout this month, Russian forces will attempt to demonstrate progress on all directions to exert political pressure on Ukraine, seeking various concessions.
The announcement comes as Ukrainian forces have achieved several tactical successes in Sumy Oblast. On 12 June, the president reported that Ukrainian defenders were “gradually pushing back” Russian forces in the region. Two days later, on 14 June, Zelenskyy announced the liberation of Andriivka in Sumy Oblast. Most recently, on 27 July, the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported the liberation of Kindrativka in the Khotyn community.