Russia seizes Ukrainian border villages as its massive bombing campaign
slows
[May 27, 2025]
By HANNA ARHIROVA and KATIE MARIE DAVIES
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian forces have taken four border villages in
Ukraine’s northeastern Sumy region, a local official said Tuesday, days
after Russian President Vladimir Putin said he had issued an order to
establish a buffer zone along the border.
Sumy borders Russia’s Kursk region, where a surprise Ukrainian incursion
last year captured a pocket of land in the first occupation of Russian
territory since World War II. Creating a buffer zone could help Russia
prevent further Ukrainian cross-border attacks there.
Meanwhile, a Russian bombing campaign that had escalated in recent days
slowed overnight as far fewer Russian drones targeted Ukrainian towns
and cities.
Moscow's invasion has shown no signs of stopping despite months of
intense U.S.-led efforts to secure a ceasefire and get traction for
peace talks. Since Russian and Ukrainian delegations met in Turkey
earlier this month for their first direct talks in three years, a large
prisoner exchange has been the only tangible outcome, but negotiations
have brought no significant breakthrough.
Between Friday and Sunday, Russia launched around 900 drones at Ukraine,
officials said, amid a spate of large-scale bombardments. On Sunday
night, Russia launched its biggest drone attack of the 3-year war
against Ukraine, firing 355 drones.
From Monday to Tuesday, Russia fired 60 drones at Ukraine, the Ukrainian
air force said Tuesday. Russia’s Ministry of Defense claimed its air
defenses downed 99 Ukrainian drones overnight over seven Russian
regions.
The weekend surge in Russia's bombardments of Ukraine drew a rebuke from
U.S. President Donald Trump, who said Putin had gone “crazy.” That
comment prompted a sharp Kremlin reaction Monday, with spokesman Dmitry
Peskov criticizing ”emotional reactions” to events.
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In this photo provided by Ukraine's 65th Mechanized Brigade press
service, Ukrainian servicemen attend a military training in
Zaporizhzhia region, Ukraine, Monday, May 26, 2025. (Andriy
Andriyenko/Ukraine's 65th Mechanized Brigade via AP)
Peskov adopted a milder tone Tuesday, hailing U.S. peace efforts and
saying that “the Americans and President Trump have taken a quite
balanced approach.”
In Sumy, Russian forces are trying to advance deeper after capturing
villages, Oleh Hryhorov, head of the Sumy regional military
administration, said in a statement.
Ukrainian forces are endeavoring to hold the line, he said.
Residents of the captured villages were evacuated earlier, and there
is no immediate threat to civilians, Hryhorov said.
Putin visited the Kursk region last week for the first time since
Moscow claimed last month that it drove Ukrainian forces out of the
area where they captured land last August. Kyiv officials have
denied the claim.
The long border remains vulnerable to Ukrainian incursions, Putin
said. He said he told the Russian military to create a “security
buffer zone” along the border but provided no public details of
where the proposed zone would be or how far it would stretch.
Putin said a year ago that a Russian offensive at the time aimed to
create a buffer zone in Ukraine’s northeastern Kharkiv region. That
could have helped protect Russia’s Belgorod border region, where
frequent Ukrainian attacks have embarrassed the Kremlin.
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