Has Russia Launched Its Final Battle To Win Ukraine? Moscow’s 50,000 Troops Storm Sumy As Kyiv Mobilises Elite Forces To Avoid Collapse

Representational image: ANI

New Delhi: War drums are growing louder in the battered northeastern corner of Ukraine. Russian troops have massed near Sumy. Over 50,000 soldiers, many from elite divisions, are now in position. This is no routine skirmish. This feels like a final push.

Sumy holds painful memories. In August 2024, Ukraine had stunned Russia with an offensive across the border into Kursk. That attack brought a rare moment of advantage. Today, the tables are turning. Russian generals want revenge. And they have chosen Sumy as the gateway.

Fighter jets hum above the tree line. Drones fill the sky. Missiles crackle through the night. In one of its biggest aerial assaults yet, Russia fired 477 drones and 60 missiles. Ukraine managed to shoot down most – 249 drones and 226 missiles. But 10 civilians died. An F-16 pilot did not survive either. His wreckage was found near Kharkiv. A reminder that every victory here comes soaked in loss.

Ukraine’s General Staff claims it has held the line. The front remains stable, they say. Russian advances near Junakivka, Yablunivka and Oleksiivka have stalled. But Moscow disagrees. Russian commanders insist their march cannot be stopped. They say time is on their side.

On the ground, exhaustion is setting in. Kyiv has rushed special GUR commando teams to Sumy. The orders are – hold at all costs. GUR chief Lieutenant General Kyrylo Budanov says Russia has deployed its best – airborne forces, naval brigades and marine units. Every one of them trained for siege warfare. Every one of them told to break through, no matter the cost.

But what is Moscow chasing here?

Budanov believes the goal is to build a buffer zone. Something that can push Ukrainian artillery farther from the border. But the cost is steep. Russian troops are running into resistance tougher than they expected. Ukrainian lines have not broken. Instead, they are thickening.

Inside Sumy’s trenches, frustration is rising. Defenses were not built fast enough. After the Kursk retreat, there were hopes of fortifying Sumy. That did not happen. Now, infantry commanders are scrambling to dig in. Many trenches remain shallow. Some zones were not mined. Soldiers are being hit by drones while still building bunkers.

A Ukrainian commander, Kyrylo Budanov, said, “We prepared for tank columns. But this war? This one is run by drones. And if your position is not ready by nightfall, someone’s not coming back.”

On the Russian side, officials claim Ukraine is bleeding badly. They say Ukrainian brigades and special forces have suffered heavy damage. Equipment losses are mounting. They have also begun using Su-30 jets to fire Kh-31 anti-ship missiles at Ukraine’s marine drones.

Budanov dismissed the tactic as absurd. “Firing $3 million missiles at speedboats? That is just desperation,” he said.

The frontline map has not shifted much, but the tension is unmistakable.

In Kursk, fighting continues. In Kharkiv, Russian troops push on with limited success. In Donetsk, assaults have resumed from every direction. Zaporizhzhia and Luhansk have turned into war mazes. Kherson remains eerily quiet, but no one expects that to last.

Sumy, though, is where eyes are locked.

Ukraine has thrown everything it can to defend it. Russia is betting big to take it. This is a turning point. For both sides, it may be the last roll of the dice before winter returns. What follows in the next few weeks could redraw the map or shatter more lives in a war that refuses to end.