KYIV, (Reuters) – Ukrainian troops have pushed Russian soldiers out of positions on the eastern bank of the River Dnipro in the Russian-occupied part of Kherson region and established several bridgeheads, Kyiv’s military said today.
The Ukrainian Marines said on their Facebook page they had a series of successes, established several bridgeheadsand carried out more operations on the eastern side of the river. Russia conceded for the first time this week that Ukrainian troops had crossed the river.
“Units of the Ukrainian Armed Forces managed to knock out the Russians from their positions on the left bank of the Dnipro and consolidate there,” General Staff spokesperson Andriy Kovalyov said.
“One of the main goals of this combat work is to push the enemy as far as possible from the right bank to protect the Ukrainian civilian population, in particular Kherson, from constant Russian shelling,” he added.
Russia made no immediate statements in reaction to the Ukrainian reports on Friday. Both Russia and Ukraine say they have inflicted heavy losses on the other side during operations in the area.
The Ukrainian military retook the city of Kherson, the regional centre, and the area around it on the western bank of the Dnipro in November 2022. The river, a formidable natural barrier, became the dividing line on much of the southern front.
Crossing the Dnipro and transporting across heavy military equipment and supplies could allow Ukrainian troops to open a new line of attack in the south on the most direct land route to Crimea, seized and annexed by Russia in 2014.
Kovalyov said the Ukrainian troops were conducting sabotage and reconnaissance actions to discover and disrupt logistics for Russian ammunition and food supplies. He said the Russian military mounted heavy resistance and brought in reinforcements.
According to Ukrainian military bloggers, Ukrainian forces crossed the Dnipro in small groups in the summer to create an initial foothold around a railway bridge near Kherson and then sought to expand their presence in nearby villages on the east bank, including Krynky.
The advance in the Kherson region comes after months of Ukrainian counteroffensive operations in the southeast and east that have not produced the breakthrough that many Ukrainians wanted.
Russian forces, which occupy around 17% of Ukraine, are now again on the offensive in the east in the Kyiv-held town of Avdiivka, near the Moscow-held city of Bakhmut and in other areas.
The Ukrainian military said in its daily update that fighting was raging along the entire frontline from the south to the east, reporting 72 combat clashes in the last 24 hours.
The fiercest battles were around Avdiivka, Mariinka and Bakhmut in the eastern Donetsk region, it said.
Vitalyi Barabash, head of Avdiivka’s military administration, said on television that Russian forces were making a big push towards the town’s industrial zone near a vast coke plant, and bringing in reinforcements.
