Kyiv, Moscow Both Claim to Take Ground in Ukraine’s Sumy Region

Fierce fighting also remains underway near Donetsk’s strategic city of Pokrovsk, according to sources from both sides of the conflict.

Ukrainian soldiers prepare to fire a mortar at Russian positions in Sumy, Ukraine, on March 9, 2025. Diego Fedele/Getty Images

Over the weekend, Kyiv and Moscow both claimed that their forces had captured territory in Ukraine’s northeastern Sumy region, which shares a border with western Russia.

In a video address, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Kyiv’s forces in Sumy were achieving “good results” near the border.