Russian troops removed 52 civilians, including elderly residents, from the border village of Grabovskoye in Ukraine’s Sumy region and captured 13 Ukrainian servicemen. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky reported this on December 22. He said the settlement lies about 200 meters from the border with Russia’s Belgorod region.
According to Zelensky, most residents were evacuated after the start of the full-scale war, but some people remained. He said those left behind included women and minors, although earlier Viktor Tregubov, a Ukrainian military communications official, had said there were no children in the settlement.
The Ukrainian side says Russian troops could have been struck by artillery or drones, but that option was rejected to avoid putting civilians at risk.
Ukraine’s human rights commissioner Dmytro Lubinets called the incident a gross violation of international humanitarian law. According to him, about 50 people were unlawfully detained on December 18, held for several days without communication, and forcibly taken to Russia on December 20. Lubinets said he had appealed to Russia’s ombudsman and to the International Committee of the Red Cross.
Volodymyr Babych, deputy head of the Sumy regional military administration, said those who remained in Grabovskoye had previously refused evacuation in writing. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha demanded that the civilians be returned home and said those taken were mainly elderly women.
How the village was reportedly seized
The Ukrainian project DeepState said Russian forces were aided by mistakes made by defending units, though the authorities have not officially confirmed that version. Tregubov described the incident as a sudden small-group operation: he said Russian infantry took control of the small settlement within a few hours, first gathering residents inside the local church and then moving them across the border into Russia. Russian authorities have not publicly commented, though pro-war Russian channels reported the capture of Ukrainian soldiers and the evacuation of civilians.