Sumy regional military administration announced an urgent evacuation from the village of Krasnopolye, Strana reports with reference to local media. Evacuation will take place at 6.00 and 7.00 (5.00 and 6.00 Moscow time) on March 21, residents will be taken out on special buses. According to the newspaper, the population of the village is estimated at 7.5 thousand people.
Krasnopolye settlement is the administrative center of the Krasnopolsky community of Sumy district. It is located near the border with the Krasnoyaruzhsky district of the Russian Belgorod region.
In a publication in the telegram channel on the morning of March 20, the Sumy regional military administration appealed to the residents of the Krasnopol community with an appeal "not to delay evacuation."
Prior to that, the authorities of the Sumy region announced evacuation in other communities that are part of the Sumy region, including eight settlements of the Yunakov and Miropol communities, as well as 14 settlements in the Khoten community.
On February 19, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that Russian fighters had crossed the state border in the Kursk region and entered enemy territory. The Kursk region of the Ukrainian regions borders only on the Sumy region.
On March 9, the Ministry of Defense reported on taking control of the Novenky farm in Sumy region. On March 12, the head of the General Staff, Valery Gerasimov, reported to Putin that Russian troops had crossed the state border in the Kursk region in certain directions and entered the Sumy region of Ukraine.
On the evening of March 18, the Ministry of Defense announced an "attempt to wedge" units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the western part of the Belgorod region. The department considered that the attack was undertaken to create a "negative background" on the eve of the talks between the presidents of Russia and the United States, Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump.
The Ministry of Defense assured that all attacks were repelled, no border crossings were allowed. The governor of the Belgorod region Vyacheslav Gladkov also stated that there was no "enemy" in the region.
On March 19, the Ministry of Defense reported on strikes on the positions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the area of border settlements of Sumy region.