SUMI, Ukraine, April 18 (Reuters) – Russian forces may have withdrawn in parts of Ukraine more than a week ago, but the Territorial Defense Forces in the northern Sumy region are training and preparing for further attacks.
Shortly after Russian forces invaded the country on February 24 in what President Vladimir Putin called a “special military operation,” they crossed the Sumy border, fighting in the city streets as they moved toward the capital, Kyiv.
Dmitry Zhivitsky, head of the Sumy regional and military administration, said there were almost no regular troops at the time, instead locals took whatever weapons they could find, such as Molotov cocktails.
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“According to the Russians, they had plans (to take over Sumy) in three to five days,” Zhivitsky told Reuters in Sumy on Thursday.
“Apparently they knew that in the territory of Sumy region at that time there were almost no regular (army) troops, but only territorial defense.
Ukrainian forces regained control of the northeastern region on April 8th, Zhivitsky said.
Members of the Territorial Defense Forces attend a training simulation to attack a building occupied by enemy forces as they prepare for a new attack, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine, in an abandoned building in Sumy, Ukraine, April 15, 2022. REUTERS / Zohra Bensemra
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“I think the probability of a (new) attack is high. “They are resolved and we understand that the number of people in Russia is about 150 million,” he said. “Until the tanks and men run out, they will continue to send people here.”
Russia’s invasion has left a trail of death and destruction that has sparked worldwide condemnation and raised concerns about Putin’s broader ambitions.
Russia has denied allegations that its troops committed war crimes in Ukraine as fake news.
Western countries say Russia is now reinforcing and supplying its troops for an intensified offensive in eastern Ukraine. It is unclear whether the Kremlin plans to attack the Sumy region again.
But local territorial defense forces are preparing, with members saying the volunteer militia now numbers more than 1,000. Local authorities would not say how many regular troops there are in Sumy.
Igor Khanenko, a former youth worker who became a member of the territorial defense, joined the first day of the war. On Friday, Khanenko and several members of his brigade conducted communication exercises, conducting training simulations to attack an abandoned building on the outskirts of the city.
“There were many situations when we went on a mission and they called us and told us that there were no Russian columns there because someone had already destroyed them,” said the 28-year-old. “We didn’t even know who did it.”
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Writing by Elizabeth Piper in Kyiv; Edited by Hugh Lawson
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