Commanders Killed, Russian Troops Lay Down Their Weapons En Masse! - RFU News

[TexasTowelie]

Today, there is a lot of news from the Sumy direction.

Here, Russian forces charged forward through the open fields, expecting little resistance, only to find that Ukrainians had lured them right into a trap. Drawn out and exposed, their bodies fill up the fields, as Ukrainians launched a sudden counterstrike to shatter their lines, overrun command posts, and force dozens of demoralized soldiers to lay down their arms and surrender.

Russian President Vladimir Putin recently insisted that capturing the city of Sumy was not Russia's primary goal, yet he provocatively claimed that wherever Russian soldiers step, it becomes Russian territory. These remarks follow direct threats made by Russian diplomats during recent Istanbul negotiations, where they explicitly warned Ukraine, it could lose both Sumy and Kharkiv regions if it continued resisting Russian ultimatums and refused to lay down arms. Despite Putin’s bragging and threats, current developments on the ground starkly contradict his aggressive rhetoric, revealing that the battle for Sumy is far from going according to Russia’s plans.

The initial phase of the Russian offensive into the Sumy region met limited Ukrainian resistance in the open fields, as Ukrainian defenders strategically chose to conserve their strength. Ukrainian forces, among them highly experienced units that previously operated deep within the Kursk region, managed to safely withdraw under pressure, repositioning swiftly into the Sumy Oblast. These battle-hardened troops are now playing a critical role in decisively stalling Russia’s momentum, taking shelter in the forests and biding their time to launch a decisive strike.

Ukrainian command anticipated that once Russian troops advanced beyond defensive cover into more exposed terrain, they would become highly vulnerable. Indeed, numerous geolocated videos from Sumy now vividly show fields littered with Russian casualties after intense Ukrainian drone and artillery bombardments, illustrating the deadly effectiveness of Ukraine’s defensive strategy.

As Russian units gradually depleted their strength during reckless assaults in open terrain, Ukrainian forces seized the opportunity to launch a decisive counterattack. The Ukrainian assault, spearheaded by the elite 225th Separate Assault Battalion, proved devastating for Russian forward elements. During an intense battle near Andriivka, Ukrainian troops successfully overwhelmed Russian positions, retaking the village. Notably, Russians had severely underestimated the Ukrainians’ strength, as Ukrainians overran a Russian command post, situated extremely close to the frontlines, as Russians likely expected to keep advancing. During the fighting, Ukrainian soldiers neutralized several important Russian positions used to launch assaults from, notably killing Andriy Vyacheslavovich Yartsev, a battalion commander of Russia’s 30th Motorized Rifle Regiment. This sudden blow significantly disrupted the Russian battalion’s tactical cohesion and ability to respond to the Ukrainian attacks, allowing Ukrainians to fully consolidate their gains.

Securing Andriivka provides Ukrainian defenders with two major operational advantages. First, the battle for the village successfully diverted Russian resources from launching attacks elsewhere along the frontline, halting the enemy’s potential advance toward more strategic targets such as Khotin and Pysarivka. Secondly, the subsequent clearing operations allowed Ukrainian FPV drone operators to relentlessly pursue and eliminate dispersed Russian troops, further eroding their ability to mount an immediate counterattack before Ukrainians could dig in. In the process, Ukrainian forces captured a significant number of Russian prisoners, one video showing 13 Russian soldiers surrendering to a reconnaissance drone, as Ukrainians inflicted serious damage to Russians’ manpower and morale.

The coming weeks will be critical for stabilizing the front in Sumy. Ukrainian forces have already re-entered several contested villages and are actively engaging in combat operations to solidify their gains, aiming to halt Russia’s offensive altogether and exploit their exhaustion. However, the Russians remain determined to continue their push toward Khotin, a crucial location from which their fiber-optic FPV drones could begin sustained, direct terror attacks against the city of Sumy itself. With Sumy being the regional capital, it is imperative for Ukrainian forces to maintain a strong, unwavering defense to prevent it from being destroyed by Russian revenge attacks.

Overall, Russian commanders are planning a significant offensive move in the direction of Sumy, both attempting to be able to strike the city with drones and create a buffer zone to prevent new Ukrainian incursions into Kursk and Belgorod. However, in their thirst to advance...