Russian army in Sumy region captured 13 Ukrainian soldiers along with civilians - Zelenskyy
Kyiv • UNN
The Russian army captured 13 Ukrainian soldiers and 52 civilians in the village of Hrabovske in the Sumy region. President Zelenskyy reported that among the civilians were women and children who had not been evacuated.
The Russian army in the village of Hrabovske, Sumy region, took 13 Ukrainian servicemen prisoner along with civilians. This was stated by President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy, as reported by UNN.
Regarding Sumy, what happened. That is, there is our village on the border with Russia. There were 52 people left there, citizens of Ukraine who did not evacuate. (...) About 17-18 people are of conscription age, other people are women, children. I am surprised that there were children there. I am simply surprised that parents treat their children like that. These 52 people lived there, did not leave. As I understand it, they had some dialogue, some relations with those who are on the territory of the Russian Federation. I think they just did not expect that Russian troops would come in and take them prisoner. That's what happened. I know that 13 of our servicemen are in captivity
He noted that he does not know under what circumstances the military were captured, but he is sure that Ukrainian troops could have destroyed the enemy there.
They could have destroyed them with artillery and drones, but they just didn't do it because there were civilians there. That's what happened. We will restore our positions. What's next, how to bring people back - these are other steps
Recall
Russian servicemen illegally detained and forcibly took about 50 civilians from Sumy region to Russia. The Ukrainian Ombudsman appealed to his Russian counterpart and the ICRC regarding their return.