Contested Kherson region
Military expert thinks Ukrainian offensive is a ruse
8/30/2022, 6:05 p.m
So far, hardly any details are known about the supposed major offensive by Ukraine in the south of the country. The responsible southern command speaks of “position battles”, Kyiv of fighting in the entire area. However, a German military expert has doubts.
After the start of a major Ukrainian offensive in the south of the country, the Ukrainian military has been reluctant to report on the situation. The spokeswoman for the southern command of the Ukrainian army, Nataliya Humenyuk, spoke of “position battles” in the Mykolaiv and Kherson regions. It is still too early to talk about possible recaptured places. “Fighting is going on right now and this requires an information silence.” The day before, Humenyuk had announced the launch of a long-awaited offensive on the right bank of the Dnipro River.
In an interview with ntv, military expert and retired Colonel Ralph Thiele described the supposed major offensive as a feint. “When you go on an offensive, you don’t talk about it, you try to surprise your opponent,” said Thiele. He therefore rates the whole thing as an “information-tactical manoeuvre”.
One reason for this could be to keep the motivation of one’s own strength high. Another aspect is that Ukraine is specifically trying to feed Western media so that support from the West is maintained. And finally, Thiele believes that Ukraine wants to divert Russian forces to the south in order to take pressure off the Donbass. In general, he does not expect major offensives by the Ukrainians anyway.
Kyiv: Heavy fighting throughout area
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s office previously said that “heavy fighting” with “strong explosions” had broken out in “almost the entire area” of the southern Ukrainian region. Ukrainian forces attacked Russian troops “in different directions”. According to the president’s office, “almost all major bridges” in the region have now been destroyed, leaving only “pedestrian crossings” intact.
The southern command of the Ukrainian army wrote in a statement of a “tense” situation in its theater of operations. Russia attacked the Ukrainian positions five times, but was unsuccessful. Two civilians were killed and 24 others injured in “massive” Russian attacks with S-300 anti-aircraft missiles on the city of Mykolaiv, about 60 kilometers as the crow flies northwest of Cherson.
Russia’s Defense Ministry announced on Monday that it had inflicted “heavy casualties” on the Ukrainian army in the Kherson-Mykolayiv region. Accordingly, the Ukrainian armed forces attacked “in three directions” but lost more than 560 soldiers and 26 tanks.
London: Increased artillery fire from Ukraine
The British Ministry of Defense said in a security statement that the “extent of the Ukrainian advance” could not be confirmed. However, the Ukrainian army has “increased artillery fire on front sections throughout southern Ukraine” in order to interrupt Russian supply lines with “long-range precision strikes”.
Most of the Russian units around Kherson are “probably understaffed” and rely on “fault-prone supply lines” via ferries and pontoon bridges across the Dnipro River, it said. According to a senior US Defense Department official, Moscow is having trouble recruiting new soldiers to fight in Ukraine. Many of the new recruits are old, in poor shape and inadequately trained.
Military expert Carlo Masala from the University of the German Armed Forces pointed out the strategic importance of Cherson near Crimea, which was annexed by Russia. “If they (the Ukrainians) have control over Kherson, they also have control over the fresh water supply to Crimea. So that means a pressure tool to put even more pressure on the Russians in Crimea.” Russia would also have problems concealing such a defeat, Masala said in an interview with Bayern 2.