Published on Nov. 19, 2023 at 11:30 a.m.
For several weeks now, rumors have been reporting the presence of Ukrainian troops on the eastern bank of the Dnieper, in the Kherson region, part of which is still occupied by Russia .
Circulating mainly on pro-Russian Telegram channels, these were finally confirmed this Wednesday by Vladimir Saldo, the collaborationist governor of the Kherson oblast. In a press release, Saldo recognized for the first time that the Ukrainian army had managed in recent days to cross the river and establish several bridgeheads on the left bank.
Two days later, the command of the Ukrainian naval forces claimed in a message published on Facebook to have inflicted significant losses on the Russian forces positioned on the eastern bank of the Dnieper , killing more than 1,200 soldiers and destroying 24 tanks and 48 armored vehicles. Human losses equivalent, if proven, to the strength of an entire brigade.
“Repel the enemy”
According to the Ukrainian general staff, one of the main objectives of these operations would be to “repel the enemy as far as possible from the right bank”, in order to protect the civilian population from Russian bombings.
During the 24 hours preceding these statements, they would have killed 6 people and injured at least 10 others, according to local authorities. “Over the past day, the enemy fired 43 shells at the city of Kherson,” said Oleksandr Prokudin, the governor of the Kherson oblast, in a message published Friday on his Telegram channel.
Operations on the left bank of the Dnieper reportedly continued on Saturday, with the Ukrainian general staff erting in a statement that marine units “maintained their presence” there, and having repelled 12 Russian attacks there during the previous day.
Russian offensives continue
On the rest of the front line, however, the Russian army seems to have regained the initiative, while the Ukrainian counter-offensive that began last June is no longer moving forward.
In its November 17 report on military operations in Ukraine, the Institute for the Study of War, an American think tank, notes that Russian forces are continuing their offensive operations “along the Kupyansk-Svatove-Kreminna line.” , near Bakhmout, near Avdiivka, west and southwest of the city of Donetsk, in the border area of Donetsk-Zaporizhia oblast, and in the west of Zaporizhia oblast » , adding that the Russians would have progressed “in several sectors of the front. »
“The lines don’t move”
An officer from the 28th mechanized brigade of the Ukrainian army, met this Saturday in the Donetsk region, confirmed to “Echos” that Russian forces have increased “limited-scale” offensive operations there in recent weeks. “They send small groups of infantrymen to probe our defenses and identify weak points that can be exploited later,” he explains.
This veteran of the Donb war says he expects the Russians to intensify their aults over the winter, and believes that the coming months will be difficult for the Ukrainian defenders: “We find ourselves in a similar situation to the last winter: we managed to seize a position, but it was taken back shortly after, and vice versa, he whispers. The lines don’t move. »