Ukraine is gaining ground on the eastern bank of the Dnipro River and is building “several bridges” across it
Ukraine announced its first major success in the field on Friday, months after it began its counterattack, taking control of sites on the Russian-occupied bank of the Dnipro River in the country’s south. Russia admitted for the first time this week that Ukrainian forces crossed the river.
Given that the front is rather static, it is necessary for Kiev to make gains, as it wants to prevent its Western allies from getting tired with the conflict that has lasted for almost two years, while the attention of the international community is turned to Israel and the rest of the world . Gaza Strip.
Ukrainian forces carried out a “series of successful operations” on the eastern bank of the Dnipro River, in the Russian-occupied part of the city of Kherson, and built several bridges there, the Ukrainian army said on Friday. In a statement, the Ukrainian Marine Corps said on its Facebook page that it would resume operations on the eastern bank of the river.
She added: “In cooperation with other units of the Defense Forces, the Ukrainian navy managed to gain a foothold on several beachheads” in this region, speaking of inflicting “heavy losses” on the Russian ranks.
Andriy Yermak, director of the Ukrainian president’s office, said this week that Ukrainian forces were working to “demilitarize the Crimean peninsula,” adding that they had covered 70% of the distance. According to Ukrainian military bloggers, Ukrainian forces crossed the Dnipro River in small groups in the summer in an attempt to establish a foothold around a railway bridge near the city of Kherson, and then tried to expand their presence in the villages neighbors on the eastern shore.
The progress made in the Kherson region comes after months of Ukrainian counteroffensive operations in the southeast and east, which did not achieve the big breakthrough the Ukrainians were looking for. The Ukrainian army said in its daily report that fighting raged along the entire front line from south to east and reported that 72 fighting occurred in the last 24 hours. He added that the fiercest battles took place around Avdiivka, Marinka and Bakhmut in the eastern Donetsk region.
Last November the Ukrainian army liberated the city of Kherson and its surroundings, located on the western bank of the Dnipro River. Crossing the Dnipro River and transferring heavy military equipment and supplies to Ukrainian forces would enable a new wave of offensive in the south on the direct land route to Crimea, which Russia seized and annexed in 2014.
This is the first success announced by the Ukrainians in their counterattack since they took control of the village of Robotinh in the southern Zaporizhya region in August. Kiev hoped that control of its two robots would allow it to penetrate Russian lines and liberate occupied areas, but the Ukrainian army was unable to do so in the face of the firepower of Russian defenses. Both Russia and Ukraine say they have inflicted heavy casualties on the other side during operations in the region.
Controlling positions on the left bank of the Dnipro River would allow Ukrainian forces to carry out a broader offensive southward. But to achieve this goal, Ukraine must manage to deploy large numbers of soldiers, vehicles and equipment in an area that is difficult to access due to its sandy and swampy nature.
Ukraine is discreet about the scale of ongoing operations, their successes and their losses. Even the Kremlin and the Russian Ministry of Defense refuse to talk about these topics.
A Russian occupation administration official in Kherson admitted this week that some Ukrainian soldiers are “stranded” in the small village of Krynki, located on the eastern bank of the Dnipro River, and are facing “hell” due to artillery shelling and missiles. Russian marches.
Vladimir Saldo, governor of the occupied part of the Kherson region, said Wednesday that dozens or hundreds of Ukrainian soldiers managed to establish positions on the left bank of the Dnipro River, particularly around the village of Krynki.
Saldo tried to downplay the significance of this Ukrainian advance, saying that Russian reinforcements had been deployed and that Ukrainian forces were under heavy shelling. He wrote on Telegram: “Additional (Russian) forces have now been deployed. The enemy is stuck in Kryniki in a fiery inferno under a barrage of bombs, missiles, thermal systems ammunition, artillery and drones.” The Dnipro River has been the front line in southern Ukraine since the Russian withdrawal from the right-bank city of Kherson in November 2022.
For his part, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius announced this week that the European Union will not be able to deliver one million rounds of ammunition to Ukraine before spring, as agreed. Ukraine relies heavily on weapons and ammunition sent to it by Americans and Europeans, while in some countries the question of reducing economic and military support to Kiev is raised.
For its part, the Kremlin said it has reoriented the economy toward arms and ammunition production and has recruited around 400,000 additional soldiers since the start of the year. Another concern for Kiev is that Russian forces are on the offensive in several other areas, with the main objective of surrounding and occupying the industrial city of Avdiivka in the east.
Furthermore, Ukraine fears further Russian bombing to destroy its energy infrastructure and plunge its population into darkness and cold as winter approaches.
The Ukrainian Air Force announced Friday that it shot down nine of ten Iranian-made Shahed drones launched by Russia towards the center and south of the country overnight.
On the other hand, Oleg Chekhov, head of the press center of the forces of the Russian group “Vostok” (East), announced that Russian forces neutralized about 70 Ukrainian soldiers and destroyed five Ukrainian mortars on the southern axis of Donetsk.
Chekhov told the Russian news agency Sputnik that during the fighting “the enemy lost five mortar teams, including a mobile mortar team based on an American-made Humvee.” He added that also in the direction of the south of Donetsk, units of the “Vostok” group, with the support of artillery, foiled two attempts to rotate units of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the areas of Novomikhaylovka and Northern Priutnoy, and the enemy lost an armored combat. vehicle, a small truck and labor. He stressed that “the enemy lost up to 70 soldiers in the direction of southern Donetsk. Furthermore, the losses of the Ukrainian Armed Forces included the destruction of an electronic warfare station and two armored fighting vehicles.” These numbers cannot be verified by an independent source. In London, Britain’s Ministry of Defense said Thursday that Russian forces had recently made progress in their battle to control the town of Avdiivka in eastern Ukraine. The Ministry’s daily intelligence assessment published on the “X” platform (formerly Twitter) states: “It is almost certain that Russia is trying to carry out a pincer operation to surround the city.” He added: “The recent advance is likely to have brought Russian forces close to the Ukrainian-controlled Avdiivka coke and chemical plant.”
In Kiev, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky considered the recent meeting between his American counterpart Joe Biden and China’s Xi Jinping “good” for Ukraine, which has been facing Russian invasion for almost two years. After a summit between Biden and Xi in California that contributed to the resumption of high-level military contacts between the two countries that had been suspended for more than a year, Zelensky told a group of media, including Agence France- Presse: “We understand that their meeting is good for us.”
Zelensky did not confirm whether Biden and Xi discussed the war in Ukraine, but stressed that the Russian invasion must be “dealt with one way or another” during talks between the great powers. China has never condemned the Russian invasion and has stepped up economic, diplomatic and military cooperation with Moscow since the conflict began in February 2022.
Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak expressed “cautious optimism” on Thursday about the meeting between Xi and Biden, which was overshadowed by the US president’s description of his Chinese counterpart as a “dictator”. Podolyak said on social media that the meeting was “a great signal for the world.” Dialogue instead of confrontation and a new world order”, adding: “There is necessarily a need for rules and stability”.