The Sumy administrative region in Ukraine is clear of Russian ground forces, according to reports. The Kyiv Independent, a Ukrainian news source, pointed to remarks from Sumy Oblast Governor Dmytro Zhyvytsky, who said (as summarized by the publication) that “explosions may still be heard as rescue service workers dispose of ammunition left by the Russian military.” (Ukraine is divided into administrative regions known as oblasts.) On a similar note, the Ukrainian government information source Ukrinform clarified that the Sumy region “is already liberated from the occupiers,” explaining that the “sounds of explosions heard in recent days are the work of rescuers and explosives technicians who dispose of Russian ammunition.” Ukrinform also cited Zhyvytsky, also spelled Zhyvytskyy.
⚡️Sumy region completely free of Russian forces.
Sumy Oblast Governor Dmytro Zhyvytsky announced on Facebook that the region is clear of Russia's forces, but that explosions may still be heard as rescue service workers dispose of ammunition left by the Russian military.
— The Kyiv Independent (@KyivIndependent) April 8, 2022
The Sumy-area leader, Ukrinform notes, advised locals against using forested roads or going up to positions that Russian forces previously held, among other precautions. Elsewhere in Ukraine, efforts to appropriately dispose of weaponry left behind by exiting Russian soldiers are also continuing. The administrative district around Kyiv was also recently cleared of Russian ground troops, and as global attention turned to evidence of the atrocities that Russian soldiers committed, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy recently laid out how officials “have already started preparing all the necessary work to restore normal life in the liberated areas. Mine clearance of the territory is carried out. Our sappers neutralize thousands of explosive devices every day! In the near future we will restore electricity supply, restore water supply to this whole territory of our state. We will provide medical care, normal access to goods – as much as possible in the current conditions. Of course, we will rebuild the destroyed and damaged housing. We will rebuild roads, bridges, infrastructure. Life will come again to every city, to every community that the occupiers tried to destroy.”
⚡️Governor: 50 people, including 5 children killed in Russian attack on Kramatorsk train station.
According to Donetsk Oblast Governor Pavlo Kyrylenko, 98 people, including 16 children were hospitalized.
— The Kyiv Independent (@KyivIndependent) April 8, 2022
Although areas including the Sumy and Kyiv locales have been cleared of Russian ground troops, threats there and elsewhere in Ukraine aren’t broadly diminishing. Rather, they’re shifting — in Kyiv, a report recently circulated on 16 Russian sabotage and reconnaissance groups that had apparently been caught in the city, while additional widespread threats continue from airstrikes and missiles. And elsewhere, Russian forces are further focusing their violence in the eastern and southern parts of Ukraine. For instance, the assault on the long-targeted Ukrainian city of Mariupol is continuing; there, local officials recently indicated that they feared the true death toll could reach into the tens of thousands following weeks of strikes. On Friday, Russian soldiers struck a train station in Kramatorsk where some 4,000 civilians had been amid efforts to evacuate before expected additional Russian attacks. At least 50 people have been reported to have died in the train station strike, and nearly 100 were wounded. These numbers could rise.
⚡️ Chernihiv Mayor: about 700 people killed by Russia during siege.
This includes both soldiers and civilians, Chernihiv Mayor Vladyslav Atroshenko said on April 8.
Atroshenko said prior that 70% of Chernihiv was destroyed during the month-long siege of the city.
— The Kyiv Independent (@KyivIndependent) April 8, 2022
