Independent monitors confirm Kremlin claims of new and symbolically important advances in east of Ukraine
Russian military units appear to be within 18 miles (29km) of the city of Sumy, three years after Ukraine forced them out of the northern region, while also making new and symbolically important ground in the east.
Independent monitors confirmed Kremlin claims to have retaken the village of Loknia, which had been liberated along with the rest of the Sumy region during Ukraine’s 2022 spring counteroffensive.
It is the latest settlement in the region to be retaken by Putin’s forces in recent weeks.
The city of Sumy, which is 200 miles north-east of Kyiv, was never occupied by Russia after the full-scale invasion, but Putin’s forces have been bearing down on the regional capital.
