“Series of successful missions”
Ukraine establishes several bridgeheads on the eastern bank of the Dnipro
November 17, 2023, 11:59 a.m
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The wide Dnipro has been the front line between Ukrainian and Russian forces in the south of Ukraine for a year. Russia is using the natural barrier for intense artillery fire, so Ukraine is trying to cross over – possibly with success, as the military announces.
The Ukrainian military says it has carried out “a number of successful operations” on the eastern bank of the Dnipro in the occupied Kherson region. The Ukrainian General Staff announced that it was possible to establish some bridgeheads there. Further operations on the east bank are planned. One of the main goals is to “drive the enemy as far as possible from the right bank in order to protect the civilian population from continuous Russian shelling.”
Ukrainian soldiers would inflict “significant losses” on the Russian military, it said. “The enemy is suffering heavy losses trying to drive our soldiers out of their positions.”
The wide Dnipro has been the front line and a large natural barrier between the Ukrainian and Russian armed forces in the south of Ukraine for a year. The eastern bank has been controlled by Russia since the beginning of the war, the western bank by the Russians since the liberation of the regional capital of the same name, Kherson, a year ago Ukraine. However, the remaining population in Kherson does not live in safety: Russia regularly bombards the city with artillery fire.
Hot fights since the summer
For some time now, Ukrainian troops have been trying to use boats to cross to the other bank at night and to form bridgeheads in order to push the Russian units further inland. In the summer, Ukrainian soldiers were able to set up a position under the destroyed Antonivka Bridge, to which Russia responded with violent attacks and air strikes.
However, according to consistent reports, the new bridgeheads are located near Krynky and Pishchanivka and thus up to 40 kilometers east of Kherson. It is unclear to what extent the Ukrainian army wants to limit Russian artillery fire there.
Hell of fire or retreat?
Russia admitted for the first time on Wednesday that the Ukrainian army had managed to cross the Dnipro and advance to the Russian-controlled side of the river. Around “one and a half” Ukrainian companies were “in small groups” on the eastern bank of the river, the Moscow-appointed governor of the Kherson region, Vladimir Saldo, explained on Telegram. “We have deployed additional forces,” Saldo added. Ukrainian soldiers are stuck in a “hell of fire” in the village of Krynky and are being shot at with artillery, rockets and drones.
The Dnipro is accompanied on its lower reaches by tributaries such as the Konka (here near Oleschky) and extensive swamp areas – which makes crossing difficult.
(Photo: picture alliance/dpa/TASS)
The credibility of the information cannot be verified. Two days earlier, Russian state news agencies had already reported a withdrawal of Russian troops from the Kherson region, but later retracted it again: “The leadership of the ‘Dnepr’ group has decided to regroup the armed forces to more favorable positions in the east of the (river) Dnipro,” said TASS. The RIA Novosti agency distributed a similar text. About ten minutes later, both announced that the reports had been “cancelled.”
A little later, the Russian news media RBK quoted the Russian Defense Ministry as saying that it was a case of “sending false news” and a “provocation.” What exactly was behind the incident is unclear.