Residents, the mayor of bilopol, yuriy zarko, informed the public about this. The evacuation of the civilian population continues in bilopol and other border communities. The day before, on our broadcast, the head of the sumy Regional State administration, volodymyr artyukh, said that over the past 2. 5 months, the intensity of shelling in the sumy region has increased two to three times. Most often , during these attacks, russia uses guided aerial bombs. In border populations from 40 to 50 houses were destroyed in the points. 50 of the housing stock. Andrii demchenko, spokesperson of the state Border Service of ukraine, joins our broadcast. Good evening. Good evening. Tell andrii, what do you associate such attacks in the sumy region with . It must be understood that three areas are exposed to shelling. These are chernihiv region, sumy region, and kharkiv region. And the most shelling is recorded precisely in the sumy region, as well as in the kharkiv region. If taken quantitatively, they are almost equally under fire from the russian federation, but i can point out that over the last period we can talk about a certain increase in the number of shelling carried out by the terrorist country, striking these three regions, in general, at the beginning of this month , our border units together with other components of the Defense Forces recorded. A little more than 2,200 shellings carried out by russia using a variety of weapons during such attacks. In general, for example, in the month of february , almost 3,000 shellings were recorded during the entire month, that is, in fact at the moment there are, well, as i said, gradual increase in the number of shelling carried out by russia. In each day, it can be different. For the past 24 hours, for example , shelling was recorded at around 110, the day before it was at around 85, at the beginning of the month the number of shelling per day could hover around 120130. Regional journalists, who work in sumy oblast, state that there have been no such shellings in sumy oblast since april last year. To what do you associate the increase in attacks and shelling . Well, its difficult for me to say what this is connected with, why russia is increasing such shelling, but this is actually intimidation of people, citizens of ukraine, who live in the border areas, this is, of course , an attempt to infiltrate the places where the Defense Forces are located, the units of the Defense Forces of our country, but as we can see, most of the shelling still falls on populated areas. Because of which the infrastructure of these settlements is being destroyed, the houses of civilians are being destroyed , and there are, unfortunately, also deaths and injuries, which are and are the reason, are the reason for the evacuation of the civilian population, to what extent, to what extent a wellfortified border in sumy oblast, because in recent months, a lot of people, both journalists and local residents who live there, have been complaining that russians are constantly entering there. How well fortified is the border . Look , im going on about the evacuation, the leadership of the sumy region has repeatedly called on local residents, especially from nearby settlements as close as possible to the border, including, well, a fivekilometer zone, to leave these settlements, because russia daily did not stop and does not stop shelling populated areas, including. Sumy oblast, as well as, again, kharkiv oblast and chernihiv oblast, but the most shelling was on sumy oblast and kharkiv oblast. As for the strengthening of the border, well. In terms of engineering , it is practically impossible to directly strengthen the state border line, because any Engineering Group that could do this and if it appeared on the border, would immediately be exposed to enemy fire , so if it was possible to strengthen it, i will specify, allow it, if it is possible was to fortify, then this is before the start of a fullscale invasion, it is already impossible to fortify more, now the border or defense capability is being strengthened. Of our country on the border with the aggressor country, this also applies to sumy oblast, and again to kharkiv oblast and chernihiv oblast, they cannot be separated one from the other, because , unfortunately, we have such a neighbor who does not stop his terrorist actions , does not stop confirming his status as a terrorist, therefore the border is being strengthened in terms of fortification, they are setting up engineering and fortification structures as close as possible to. The border , somewhere it can be several hundred meters, somewhere it can be several kilometers, it all depends on the direction, on the situation and on the terrain, where such fortifications are most appropriate, these are also places of refuge for our guys, because they also suffer from shelling, so that they have the opportunity to take cover, and, of course, these are also firing positions, observation posts, a trench line, dugouts in order to. Fully fulfill the tasks of the defense capability of our country, including number of to oppose enemy drgs, which have been most active in the recent period specifically in the direction of sumy. Of course, it cannot be said that they come every day, but the largest number of detected enemy drgs is in sumy oblast. The last of the cases is saturday, when actually during the day, along the entire length of the border with russia. Three enemy drgs were detected in sumy oblast in three different directions, and then units of the state Border Service of the armed forces of ukraine and the National Guard jointly cooperated in order to knock out and inflict damage on these enemy groups so that they retreat at least beyond the line of our border. Thank you very much for your comment, andrii demchenko, spokesman of the state Border Service of ukraine, and volodymyr bitsak, commander of the Third Company of the voluntary formation of the Territorial Community and deputy chairman of the City District council, joins our broadcast , good evening, good evening, i congratulate you the northeastern outpost of the defense of our country, glad to see and hear you on the air, vladimir, and what do you associate the intensity of shelling with sumy region, the last few weeks, i understand, i have several versions, as the mayor of the city of bilopilya emphasized today on a ukrainian tv channel, it seems to be connected with the shelling of belgorod, and then this. All the russian tv channels wrote what you all see , even the mayor of the ukrainian city admitted this, i dont understand why these shellings are going on as much as possible now, firstly, the league of russian legions, which are liberating cities such as tkina and td, they are doing everything in order to make a barren zone and withdraw the whole barrel artillery away from the border, thats why i think its very good that for. A month ago general gerasimov was appointed chief of staff of rashisky, this gerasim disappeared somewhere , he lost his own somehow and they appointed Major General pozniher, in my opinion, a native of sumy oblast, to it is a great pity that we have such a judas, who was born in the dubovya village of the dubovyazop district and after that. But in the last month, especially in the last two weeks, massive, intense shelling, there are 400 explosions per day, which is not 500, which was not observed, well already a long time ago, thats why im still here , its the tactics of the introduction of the war of this poznicher, the new head of the main staff of the russian federation, so here i see such and such two options, why such heavy shelling is being conducted, or yours . From the point of view, is there a risk of a border breach by russia, specifically in the sumy oblast, and whether in principle, maybe you know, whether some group of Russian Military is forming or accumulating on the other side of the border for a possible breakthrough, or whether this is not observed at all, in my opinion information, according to the information of ova sumskyi, there are no strike groups of the group on our territory, if there is an approximate number of them there. 2,000, then it is distributed over a distance of more than 500 km, this is the sumy and chernihiv regions, and the sumy region is only a border of 564 km, so it is a very long, long stretch on which. If he ever stumbles, we will immediately kick him in the teeth, dont worry about it, mr. Demchenko was in front of you, and he says that he also says that the border is now it is very difficult to fortify, because hostilities continue, and in and therefore this is possible one of the results or consequences, why the drg can penetrate the territory quite unhindered and in large numbers. Sumshchyna, what is going on with the drge now . Look, the border would be different , because well, in the area, i mean, there are forests, forests, forest areas, it is really difficult to control them, because if there was a border where the bryansk forests already enter, on the border of ukraine, on the border, thats why the drg can enter there, its difficult for them, then regarding the fact that there are no fortifications there, yes indeed, well, it has to be in mind the fortifications are somewhere at a distance of a kilometer and well, a short distance, and what is deeper from the border, it used to be , well, if we say so, they were built from the border , and it used to be, well, if we say so, they were built, but not such, perhaps, fortifications a year ago lets say primitive , you can call it that, now its being built according to all the classics of the military genre, ill just say in these words, its being built, its being built on a scale, its being built in large volumes, its being built a lot, its being built, despite the the weather, a large amount of equipment is working, so everything is being done to increase the defense capability of our border, but i will ask you a question, i dont know if you know the answer to it, because the roots go back to a tenyear history, but nevertheless, well, look, the war is in ukraine has been going on for 10 years, and in my memory from the 14th year there, all politicians and. Officials, both local and national, talked about the need to strengthen the border everywhere with russia, and why the border was not strengthened in sumy oblast even before the beginning of a fullscale war . Well as well, a bullet in the forehead was building a wall, we all saw that ridiculous wall that was being built, why, apparently, no one was ready that the rashists would still reveal their beastly insides. Which they have, it was already, as history teaches us, as we have now looked into history, the russians always wanted to embarrass us, and if no one had thought about it, had not expected that there would be a fullscale war, i think that for these reasons nothing was built, so there were Border Guards, well , there were some cameras there, well, it was very bad, i remember there, one border guard said that we have two uaz cars and two motorcycles there for allotment. There are 20 or 30 km, so you wont go that far with two uazs. The last question, what do you know about the drg, which are often reported by local residents and regional journalists in sumy oblast, who complain that very often russian subversive groups penetrate, are they some, are they some special forces or are they some representatives of other russian structures, what about are they known and for what purpose did they usually enter ukrainian territory . Well, there are such data that. C in fact, if the Training Ground is tactically, practically theoretical, there is something like, well , the artillerymen are also trained to be snipers. There was information about the expats, and there is also information that, including as special forces , they undergo such training as they pass abroad, but from the fact that you say a lot of them, i wouldnt have said that, a week ago there was, well, i. I dont remember, maybe sunday or three , not a single such case, yes, so i agree with the fact that the buckwheat at the Border Guards said that there were three attempts to enter, all of them they gave a suitable repulse and they went back, too, well, to be as massive as you said, there is no such thing, well, the last yes, the last three weeks or two, maybe, more precisely, the sumushchy is being attacked en masse with kababs, so maybe now its not where, the information is the latest in bilopil to fall on. A water intake and on the way, well, there is no water in bilopil at the moment, how long it will be, it will become clear later. Thank you very much for joining our broadcast. Volodymyr bitsak, commander of the Third Company of the voluntary formation of the Territorial Community and deputy head of the Sumy District Council was on radio svoboda. We continue to talk about sumy oblast, and serhiy krivonos, Major General of the reserve of the armed forces of ukraine and first Deputy Commander of special Operations Forces, 201619, is joining our broadcast right now. Good evening, good evening, glory to ukraine, glory to the heroes, mr. Kryvonos, and to what do you associate such intensity of shelling of sumy oblast, the use of akabs, attacks, could it be . A sign of a breakthrough in the future, or is it a sign of Something Else . Well, i dont know why they decided that it would be a breakthrough, i ask you well, you ask, you immediately make a statement, so from the point of view of fulfilling those instructions of putin, which he gave in his interview, where he wanted to create such a sanitary zone, or simply a gray zone, in the border strip between russia and ukraine, this can be considered, considered primarily yes. In a way and plus the fact that, well, putin is extremely worried about the activity of the Russian Volunteer corps on the border of ukraine and russia, and they are trying to do it, they have the resources to do it, to do just that, you know, such an area is empty, but it is possible that over time the territory was burned due to constant artillery and air strikes on the cities and villages of the border strip, sumy. Including the region that concerns the previous speaker, when the question is why the strip was not built, why nothing was done in the previous years, well, lets remember, and why precisely in sumy oblast , it was probably the most active in terms of smuggling , the question for our Border Guards is exactly how they took part in the fight against smuggling territory of the sumy region, at certain moments. Perhaps they did not take part , but led these processes, both the case and mr. Derkachs mafia, which was the most powerful in the sumy region, it probably still remained at certain moments, so that is the whole answer, why there is not was being built, because many people did not want there to be any activity of the military in the territory of this region, as far as we are concerned at the moment, we have an example when in the winter of 2223 years. Certain units of the special Operations Forces were located on the territory of the border of russia, and the russian drgs did not even want and could not stick their noses into our territory, but we, on the contrary, worked quite actively in the adjacent territory of russia, then the ssso was removed from there, thrown into the city battles in bahmud and then in avdiivka, and tero units were established , who had neither. The necessary skills nor the necessary weapons for such detailed work, as a result the situation changed for the worse, and the russians last, especially the last year, especially it was the spring and summer of last year, well, just themselves, you know, without orders led on the territory of both chernihiv and sumy regions, and their constant exits of their subversive reporting groups caused great damage, they constantly killed our Border Guards and our units. And we shot local people, and the previous ones said that at certain moments they considered this territory, you know, as a Training Ground for their units and for exams, as a rule , Russian Special purpose brigades work on the territory of the sumy region, and these are highly professional people, you should not underestimate , they know the terrain very well, theyre very well. They have the skills to do that , and theyre a threat, so in terms of how to deal with that, well, you can put a thousand ropes in the whoop and its not going to solve the issue as far as of the fight against the drg, because these joint and support Company Posts will not be filled by our troops to the extent that it is needed, and we have two such special structures that must deal with the fight against the drg, these are the Security Service of ukraine and the National Special forces of the National Guards exactly. They must do these things, which concern a reliable counterintelligence and Police Administrative regime in the border zones, and no Border Guards there will be able to solve this issue, no matter how much they are increased, because then you have to introduce the specifics of the work of their, well, their special units, it will be too expensive, everything is simpler to force the decision that has been made, so that those who have been preparing for this for many years work in this regard, and this is just. Alpha, excuse me alpha sbu, omega, vega and other units of the National Guard, who have this specialization in the fight against gerja, then the situation can be greatly improved. But considering the fact that in the last few months, residents of sumy oblast and journalists who worked on the border have very actively and often complained about the presence of the drg in the region, which is evidence that ukraine lacked resources. With these drg . Perhaps at certain moments, the question is not even about resources, there are more than enough resources, and when we see that the Security Service of ukraine is actively engaged in. Not fighting the russian drg, but actively fighting tanks, on front and is actively fighting with drones , sea and air in the deep core of the russian federation, on the one hand , it is great, it is very cool and thank you for it, but according to the existing legislation, it is definitely not a function of the Security Service of ukraine, so my position is always was such that in the army and in general during the war. Everyone must deal with their area of ​​responsibility, their functions, and not deal with what can and is needed, but at certain moments is not your main purpose, because these divisions were created for one function, and now they performs other functions, then i ask, where is the expediency and where is even the simple financial justification of creating such units, when people are taught uh. Tactics of action in one direction for many years, and then start using them in another direction, this you probably mean the destruction or destruction of russian refineries, which was also reported by the Security Service of ukraine . Many said that this is not entirely their responsibility, so to speak, well, theirs, we simply open the law on the Security Service of ukraine and read and we begin what exactly the Security Service of ukraine is entrusted with, just as we open the law on nationalism. And we read these things , we see that this is not exactly their job, everyone, you know, the cook has to do the kitchen, the electrician does the electricity, and the mason lays the stones, this is probably the most important thing, and then it will greatly improve the situation in the country, because in our country Everyone Wants to engage in what, you know, is more beneficial from the point of view of pr and acceptance by society, but meanwhile these organizations. These institutions were not created for pr, and for the reliable protection of the countrys security, including those related to the fight against enemy sabotage and intelligence groups. I have one last question, you assumed at the beginning that it is possible that this intensive attack on sumy oblast is connected with the desire of the russian authorities, the military leadership, to create a socalled sanitary zone. If this is true, how can the situation on the border develop in the near future. More weeks, well, they can continue to increase the number of strikes on such critical objects, you see, they are hitting water storage facilities, thats enough critical for the normal functioning of communities, how can we resist this, well , our artillery must work for their artillery strikes, the active use of drones also on our side on their objects, for any of their actions. Respond to a much larger number of strikes , we dont have drones, but we have drones that could directly solve the issue of finding enemy artillery positions and striking them, the more we destroy them, the less they will want to come closer to our borders, they then d will then be forced to change tactics, change directly the distances at which they work, and this can be significantly improved. Situation for the ukrainian side. Thank you very much, serhii kryvonos, Major General of the armed forces reserve, and first Deputy Commander of the special Operations Forces of the armed forces 201619. We talked about the situation in sumy oblast. Is it possible a new offensive of Russian Troops on the territory in the north of ukraine, for example on sumy, which we just talked about in kyiv. This question, among others, was also asked by our european kore. Patrick ryder at the ramstein air base, where the 20th meeting on supporting ukraine has now started. Listen to an excerpt of the american generals answers. General mayre, the recent us aid package to ukraine is considered by the pentagon to be a unique case, so i would like you to clarify whether you still have options at your disposal to urgently provide military aid to ukraine in the interim, while the package. 60 billion in aid is pending in congress, in other words, will we see another unique case in the near future. How are you emphasize, this was an extraordinary case, a situation where we were able to find cost savings through some of the contracts that we negotiated, so unfortunately its not one of those things that we can really expect to happen again. It was a onetime bargain. Indeed, our main focus. Is working with our congress to get additional aid to ukraine approved. We are aware of the fact that the amount and scope of assistance they need really requires the kind of funds we have requested. From our congress, so we will continue closely cooperate with them and we will try to ensure that they have the necessary information about how important it is for ukraine. What help can the us provide to ukraine now, given that funding is on hold. As you know, we do a lot. Money, of course, is extremely important, as is security assistance, but we also work very closely with the international community, as an example, the Ukrainian Defense group that is sitting here. Today, the us, its allies and partners have trained more than 129,000 ukrainians. Also we Work Together with our partners within a coalition of capabilities that seek to help ukraine build its defense in the long term. So theres a lot we can do, but of course at the end of the day its really important to have the money behind that effort, and thats something were going to continue to work very hard on. Do you see any chances that the 60 billion package will be approved in the congress as permanent financing for ukraine, given that the speaker of the house of representatives is now putting forward alternative options for lending to ukraine. From the point of view of the Us Government in general and the department of defense in particular, we are focused on getting more help from our congress, which we know. Is that there is strong bipartisan support for this package in congress, and we remain optimistic that our congress will agree and support this project, while we intend to continue to work closely with our allies and partners, many of whom provide significant assistance ukraine, and of course we all appreciate it very much, so this will be the direction of our efforts, both tactical and strategic consequences. Delays in the us aid package for ukraine, do you suppose that Russian Troops can launch, for example, a new offensive on the territory in the north of ukraine, for example, sumy and kyiv. Of course, delays in ukraine getting what it needs continue to expose ukraine to increased risk. We are fully aware of the direness of the situation, the importance and urgency of the need for ammunition and other capabilities. And so, again, we re going to continue to work very closely with our congress, the risks are growing every day. Ukrainians have shown themselves to be incredibly courageous, brave and innovative fighters, and they continue to hold the line on most of the front line. As you point out, Russian Forces have made some incremental gains, but right now we continue to see Ukraine Holding its ground, so well be focused on supporting ukraine and making sure russia cant take more territory, and then. I hope that in the future we will see that ukraine will return its territory. Vladimir putin intends to use the victory to elections in russia for a protracted war in ukraine. The American Institute for the study of war writes about this in the current report. Putin intends to use the record level of turnout and support for his candidacy in the elections to create an information background for the protracted war in ukraine. Let me remind you, central committee. Of russia announced that putin scored more than 87 , a record for him. In the west, the russian elections were called unfree and dishonest. Germany called the vote a sham election for an authoritarian ruler who relies on censorship and violence. The French ForeignMinistry Said that the voting took place in conditions of the harshest repression against the population. British foreign minister David Cameron recalled that putin eliminates his political opponents, controls the means of mass media and then simply crowns himself the winner. Among those who congratulated putin on his victory were alexander lukashenko, well, the leader of the dprk, kim changin, the head of the peoples republic of china xi jinping, the president s of uzbekistan, tajikistan, azerbaijan, bolivia , nicaragua, honduras, and the president of iran. The president has now joined this company turkeys recep tayyip erdogan, who stated that ankara is also ready to facilitate russias peace talks with ukraine. There will be no congratulatory calls from the United States of america he said today. Stated today in the state department, at the same time the day before, Us National Security adviser jake salevan said that the reality, they say, is that putin is the president of russia, and that we have to deal with this reality. First, the election result was not unpredictable, because putin closed the political space, imprisoned political opponents, some of his political opponents died tragically, so in these elections there was no