Russia has captured the Ukrainian village of Loknia in Sumy Oblast, a strategically located settlement near the Russian border, according to the open-source monitoring group DeepState.

The DeepState platform confirmed Russian forces are now in control of Loknia as of June 8, marking the first independent verification of Moscow’s earlier May 24 claim. Located roughly 30 kilometers north of the city of Sumy, the village lies in a vulnerable border zone that has faced increasingly aggressive Russian incursions.

Ukraine’s General Staff has yet to issue a public statement on the development.

Putin’s “Buffer Zone” Strategy in Action

Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered the creation of a so-called "security buffer zone" along the border, with Russian forces intensifying shelling and drone strikes in recent months. Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky said on May 28 that 50,000 Russian troops were deployed near Sumy.

The occupation of Loknia follows Ukraine’s withdrawal from most of its positions in Russia’s neighboring Kursk Oblast in March, leaving Sumy more exposed.

Civilian Impact and Forced Evacuations

Governor Oleh Hryhorov of Sumy announced the evacuation of 11 more villages on May 31, bringing the total number of evacuated communities in the oblast to 213. Russian attacks—often involving Iranian-designed drones and guided missiles—have caused widespread damage and civilian casualties across the region.

The situation remains fluid as Russia attempts to press deeper into northeastern Ukraine.