Ukraine Forces Now Control Sumy Region Bordering Russia: Governor

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(Photo: AP/PTI)

Sumy regional governor Dmytro Zhyvytsky said on Friday, 8 April, that the entire northeast region of the city along the Russian border is now under the control of Ukrainian forces. Mines in the region are being cleared, he added.

Alluding to Russian troops, he said on social media that "the area is free of orcs". He, however, asked residents to be careful and warned them against returning as the area was yet to be cleared of mines.

The area is clear of Russian forces, but explosions are still being heard as rescue workers are clearing ammunition left by the Russian forces, he said.

Russian forces had recently withdrawn from the territory in the north and around the capital city of Kyiv as they moved to the eastern Donetsk and Lugansk regions.

Meanwhile, Kharkiv Governor Oleh Synehubov said that the region had been shelled 48 times over the past 24 hours, and that 15 people were injured in the attacks. Russian forces had used artillery, mortars, tanks, and multiple launch rocket systems to attack residential neighborhoods of Kharkiv and Derhachi, a city north of Kharkiv, reported The Kyiv Independent.

17,000 Russian Troops Killed, Ukraine Claims

Ukraine on Friday claimed that 17,000 Russian troops have been killed since the war began on 24 February.

This comes a day after Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov on Thursday admitted that they have lost a huge number of troops during the war. He, however, didn't specify the death toll.

Russia had said in late March that as many as 1,351 of its soldiers were dead while 3,825 had sustained injuries. But the figures were in stark contrast to those estimated by a senior NATO official during the same period, which estimate that 7,000 to 15,000 Russian soldiers had been killed in the first four weeks following Russia's invasion in Ukraine.

(With inputs from AFP.)