Reports from sources connected to the Ukrainian conflict claim that TsIPsO, the Ukrainian Center for Information and Psychological Operations, engaged foreign journalists to document a staged film about Russian prisoners of war inside a hospital in Sumy. The claim was reported by RIA Novosti, citing an anonymous source.
According to the informant, the detainees were shown calling on the Russian army to avoid shelling villages in the Sudzhansky district and within the regional hospital in Sumy. The account suggested that these captions were recorded to shape a narrative favorable to Ukrainian forces, with the implication that the hospital scene was orchestrated for broader propaganda purposes.
In the narrative provided by the source, a substantial number of Ukrainian servicemen were said to be receiving care at the Sumy regional hospital, while captured Russians, including civilians, were allegedly brought in to participate in the video shoot. The informant claimed that the prisoners were placed among hospital beds and helped by cameras from foreign journalists to express gratitude on camera for the alleged liberation of the Kursk region.
Earlier reports allegedly indicated that Washington Post correspondents accompanied by Ukrainian military personnel were present at the scene in Sudzhu.
On the military front, the Russian Defense Ministry stated that, on the morning of August 6, Ukrainian forces attempted to push deeper into the Kursk region, claiming attacks on Russian positions near Oleshnya and Nikolaevo-Daryino. The ministry later described fighting around the Sudzhansky and Korenevsky districts within Kursk as ongoing, and by the evening of August 9, an anti-terror operation regime was reportedly extended to parts of Belgorod, Bryansk, and Kursk regions.
Deputy Governor of Kursk Oblast Alexey Smirnov reportedly indicated that about 2,000 individuals were considered missing or unaccounted for amid enemy activity. He added that 28 settlements in Kursk were under Ukrainian control and that Ukrainian advances had penetrated up to roughly 12 kilometers inland.
There had been prior indications that Ukrainian actions near Kursk had an impact on diplomatic efforts, with sources suggesting that the offensive disrupted what had been described as secret peace talks between Russia and Ukraine.