by Tom Balmforth and Yuliia Dysa
KYIV (Reuters) – Russia acknowledged on Wednesday for the first time that Ukrainian forces had taken up positions on the eastern bank of the Dnieper controlled by Russian forces in southern Ukraine.
Vladimir Saldo, the governor appointed by Moscow to lead the occupied zone of Kherson Oblast, admitted in a statement that Ukrainian soldiers had managed to cross the river, while claiming that Russian forces had immobilized them and were subjecting them to a hell”.
Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelensky’s chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, said Tuesday that Kyiv’s forces had succeeded “against all odds” in establishing themselves on the left bank and that the counter-offensive launched last June by Ukraine , without a major breakthrough to date, was “developing”.
A Ukrainian army spokesperson added on Wednesday that Ukrainian troops were working to push Russian forces back from the banks of the river, which constitutes a formidable natural barrier on the battlefield.
Reuters was unable to verify this information from either side.
In his statement, Vladimir Saldo said that Ukrainian forces were operating in small groups in an area between a railway bridge and the village of Krynky, a distance of approximately 20 km. He estimates their number at around one and a half companies, or several hundred soldiers.
Vladimir Saldo claims that Russian reinforcements have been deployed, that “the enemy is trapped in Krynky and (that) hellfire has been prepared for him: bombs, rockets, flamethrowers, artillery shells and drones.
“(The Ukrainians) are in caves and running from one cave to another every night. In the last two or three days alone, the enemy’s total losses total around 100 fighters,” he said. he still assured.
The village of Krynky is located near the Dnieper, about thirty kilometers northeast of the city of Kherson, captured by Russia at the start of its February 2022 invasion and recaptured by Ukraine almost a year ago. year to the day.
Natalia Houmenyuk, spokesperson for the Ukrainian army’s Southern Command, described a “rather volatile” situation on the front line.
“Our efforts to push back (the Russians) extend in a line 3 to 8 km deep along the banks,” she said on television, adding that she would henceforth observe silence on the operations, “which will allow us later to announce great successes.”
The Kherson region is one of the main axes of the counter-offensive launched last June by Ukraine. Last week, the Russian military said its forces had foiled a Ukrainian attempt to establish a bridgehead on the east bank of the Dnieper, inflicting heavy losses.
A few days ago, two state-controlled Russian news agencies broadcast and then removed alerts announcing that Moscow was moving its troops to “more favorable positions” in the region. The Russian Defense Ministry called the information erroneous.
(Writing by Andrew Osborn, Jean-Stéphane Brosse for the French service, editing by Kate Entringer)
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