Ukraine intensified its campaign to retake the south of the country, controlled by Russia, trying to bomb and isolate Kremlin troops in areas of difficult supplybut said he saw evidence that Moscow was redeploying its forces to defend the territory.
The region of Khersonin southern Ukraine, which borders Russian-annexed Crimea, fell to Russian forces shortly after they began what Moscow calls a “special military operation” on February 24.
Ukraine, which describes Russia’s actions as a war of conquest imperial styleHe assured on Thursday that their planes had hit five Russian strongholds around the city of Kherson and another city in the area.
British military intelligence, which helps Ukraine, said it was likely Ukrainian forces would also have established a bridgehead south of a river that runs along the northern border of the Kherson region.
“The Ukrainian counteroffensive in Kherson is gaining momentum”, he said in a statement.
Ukraine has retaken some small settlements in the northern region in recent weeks as it tries to push back Russian forces.a potential prelude to what kyiv has heralded as a major counteroffensive to retake the south.
Russia has said it is not affected by Ukraine’s efforts. The Russian Defense Ministry stated that their planes had attacked a Ukrainian infantry brigade in the far north of the Kherson region and who had killed more than 130 soldiers in the last 24 hours.
Kirill Stremousovdeputy head of the Russian-appointed military-civilian administration that runs the Kherson region, has also rejected Western and Ukrainian assessments of the situation.
“(Ukrainian President Volodymyr) Zelensky’s statement that the Kherson region will be liberated in three to six weeks is a lie. All these counter-offensives that cause a large number of Ukrainian casualties come to nothing,” Stremousov told the Russian news agency on Wednesday. ESTUARY.
“Massive Russian redistribution”
Ukraine has used Western-supplied long-range missile systems to severely damage three bridges across the Dnipro River in recent weeks, making it difficult for Russia to supply its forces on the West Bank.
British intelligence noted that the strategy was beginning to isolate Russian forces in the Kherson region.
“The Russian 49th Army, stationed on the western bank of the Dnipro River, now appears very vulnerable”he said in an intelligence bulletin.
The city of Kherson was now virtually isolated from the other Russian-occupied territories.
“Their loss would seriously undermine Russia’s attempts to portray the occupation as a success.”he claimed.
On Wednesday, one Ukrainian strike on the Antonivskyi bridge, the only one serving the city of Kherson, caused its closure to traffic. That forced Russia to open a ferry service, the route of which, he said, would constantly change for security reasons.
Oleksiy Danilov, secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, tweeted that Russia was massing “the maximum number of troops” in the direction of the Kherson region, but gave no details.
Oleksiy Arestovychadviser to President Zelensky, assured that Russia was carrying out a “massive redeployment” of forces from the east to the south in what meant a strategic change from attack to defense. Read more
ESTUARY reported on Thursday that Russian security services had discovered a group of Ukrainian agents in Kherson who had been paid to pass map coordinates of Russian forces there to Ukraine for artillery targeting.
Zelensky said that Ukraine will rebuild the Antonivskyi bridge over the Dnipro and other crossings in the region.
“We are doing everything possible to ensure that the occupation forces do not have any logistical chance in our country,” he said in a speech on Wednesday night.
Oleksiy Gromova senior member of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, told a press conference on Thursday that the bridge was of great importance for the Russian defense and for Ukraine’s attempted offensive.
“We have repeatedly hit the Antonivskyi bridge. There is significant damage to the bridge structures.”Gromov said.
In eastern Ukraine, where Russia is attempting to gain control of the entire industrialized Donbas region, heavy fighting is also taking place.
Ukraine confirmed late on Wednesday that Russian forces had captured the Soviet-era Vuhlehirsk coal-fired power plantthe second largest in Ukraine, in what was Moscow’s first significant advance in Donbas in more than three weeks.
(With information from Reuters)
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Source-www.infobae.com