Ukrainian military intelligence says unit captured 29 Russians in Sumy region operation

Ukraine's military intelligence agency (HUR) says a unit of its special forces captured 29 Russian soldiers, killed 108 and hit more than 1,100 targets during a seven-week operation in Sumy region, in north-eastern Ukraine. The figures come only from HUR and could not be independently verified.

HUR announced the results on its official Telegram channel on 20 October. It described them as "first details" of a special operation by fighters of GROUP 10 of its Active Actions Department.

What HUR says

According to the agency, the special forces:

• captured 29 Russian soldiers;
• killed 108 Russian troops, a figure HUR gives as "liquidated";
• hit more than 1,100 targets, without saying what kinds of targets or what weapons were used;
• cleared more than 600 hectares of forest of Russian forces over seven weeks;
• handed the cleared positions over to the Defence Forces of Ukraine.

HUR says the main task was completed. It says the operation disrupted Russian offensive plans and stopped Russian forces from cutting logistics routes. It did not say which routes it meant. It also gave no dates for the operation, no locations within the region and no information on its own losses.

The agency said it would release more details soon. Its post included a video, which RealUA has not independently reviewed for verification.

Context

Sumy region borders Russia's Kursk and Bryansk regions, and Russian forces have attacked and shelled it throughout the war. HUR's Active Actions Department is the agency's special-operations component. HUR has previously published its own accounts of operations, and these are generally not independently confirmed. RealUA reported earlier in October a separate HUR claim of an ambush on Russian special forces by another of its units. That claim was also unverified, and HUR gave no date or location for it.

Russia has not commented on the claims. The Ukrainian General Staff has not publicly confirmed the figures in the source material. Until HUR publishes more information, the scale and timing of the operation, and the number of prisoners, remain the agency's claims alone.