The incursion of Russian troops into the border village of Hrabovske in Ukraine’s Sumy Oblast, followed by the abduction of 52 civilians, was not intended to seize or hold territory, says Ivan Tymochko, head of the Council of Reservists of the Ukrainian Ground Forces, as per Channel 24.
According to him, Russia's actions do not match the indicators of preparations for a tactical or operational offensive. Russian units lacked sufficient manpower and resources to hold positions, and the raid itself was limited and demonstrative in nature.
Cognitive warfare: Russia creates the illusion of a “front collapse”
On 18 December, Russian forces crossed the border and entered the village of Hrabovske in the Krasnopillia community, illegally deporting more than 50 civilians, including, according to available information, children.
Ukraine currently has no confirmed data on their whereabouts, and some of the abducted individuals may be facing serious danger.
Ukraine officially qualifies these actions as a war crime, and Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha has compared them to terrorist acts carried out by ISIS and Hamas.
Russia’s objective: sow fear and apply pressure ahead of “talks”
According to Tymochko, the Kremlin’s real objective is to create a sense of total insecurity and impose the idea on Ukrainian society that Russian forces are supposedly ready to attack along the entire front line simultaneously.
“To create the feeling within Ukrainian society that Russians will attack along the entire front line,” he explained.
The expert emphasizes that Ukraine’s primary objective is to prevent Russia from creating informational pretexts, even in areas where it is clearly incapable of launching an offensive and lacks the necessary concentration of forces for tactical or operational actions.
“So that it does not even have the opportunity to create such an informational background for an attack,” Tymochko emphasized.
He also noted that such actions may be an element of pressure in the context of potential ‘peace negotiations’ and did not rule out similar provocations in other directions.
“I think it will carry out such or similar actions in other areas as well, since the situation caused a significant reaction. Especially given that on strategic directions the enemy truly has nothing to boast about,” the expert added.
Earlier, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reported that 13 Ukrainian soldiers were taken prisoner by Russia in Hrabovske in Sumy Oblast, though details of those circumstances are still unclear.
At the same time, he emphasized that the Ukrainian Defense Forces had the capability to destroy the Russian group using artillery and drones, but deliberately refrained from doing so to avoid harming civilians
