The Russian Federation captured 13 Ukrainian soldiers in the Sumy direction – Zelenskyi

Russian troops took 52 civilians, including children, from the village of Grabovskoe in Sumy Oblast, and also captured 13 soldiers of the Defense Forces, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.

“It (the village of Grabovskoe – ed.) is also on the territory of Ukraine, partly on the territory of Russia. 52 people remained there – citizens of Ukraine who did not evacuate… I am surprised that there were children there. I’m just surprised that parents treat their children this way. These 52 people lived there, and have some dialogues with the border guards on the territory of the Russian Federation. I think that they simply did not expect that the Russian military would take them away. As for our soldiers, 13 of our soldiers are also in captivity,” said Zelenskyi, quoted by the Interfax-Ukraine agency.

On December 21, the Armed Forces of Ukraine confirmed the forced removal of about half a hundred Ukrainian civilians from Grabovskoye by the Russian military. According to the report, they are mostly elderly men and women, one of the women is 89 years old.

The military noted that “as a result of the rapid offensive of the enemy, the units of the Defense Forces of Ukraine withdrew from several positions in the Grabovskoye area.”

At the same time, the United Forces group reported that the Ukrainian military is trying to dislodge Russian forces from the border village of Grabovskoe in the Sumy Oblast, and fighting continues there. At the same time, according to the military, “despite separate reports in the media, there are currently no Russians in the nearby village of Ryasne.”