LAST UPDATE 22:34
The Russian military tonight assured that it had “repelled” an “attempted attack” by Ukrainian forces in the regions of Kherson and Mykolayiv, in southern Ukraine, claiming it had inflicted “heavy blows” on Ukrainians.
“This new attack attempt by the enemy failed miserably,” Russia’s Defense Ministry said in a statement.
Earlier today, it was reported from Kyiv that Ukrainian forces launched a counter-offensive in the south to push the Russians across the Dnieper River and retake the occupied city of Kherson.
“Ukrainian armed forces have launched an offensive in several zones in the south. We ask residents of Kherson to adhere to security instructions: stay close to shelters and away from the positions” of Russian forces, the head of the regional administration said in a Telegram post. Yaroslav Janusevic. “We believe in the Ukrainian army!”, he concluded.
“Today we had strong artillery attacks on enemy positions (…) throughout occupied Kherson. This was the announcement we had been waiting for since the spring: it is the beginning of the end of the occupation,” Serhii Khlan, a local MP and adviser to the regional governor.
“What is happening now is the well-planned and balanced beginning of the counter-attack,” he told AFP, arguing that “Ukrainian aircraft are today flying all over the front line” of that region.
Hlan said Ukrainian forces had gained an advantage on the southern front after striking bridges in the Kherson region in recent weeks aimed at cutting off supplies to the Russian army. He said the “first line of defense” of Russian forces had been breached, forcing the Russians to “retreat”.
“The first phase (of the counter-offensive) is the right bank of the Kherson region. It is still difficult to talk about the liberation of the left bank,” he explained.
Ukrainian media earlier quoted a spokeswoman for the army’s “Southern” command, Natalya Khomenyuk, as saying that Ukrainian forces were attacking “in many directions” on that front. The Ukrainian military group “Kakhovka” reported on Facebook that it observed the withdrawal of a unit of pro-Russian separatist fighters from their positions in the area.
These statements cannot be independently verified.
For weeks Ukrainian forces have said they were planning a counteroffensive to liberate Kherson, a strategically important region bordering Crimea, the peninsula annexed by Russia in March 2014.
Russia’s Defense Ministry, however, claims that “Ukrainian army units suffered heavy losses due to the vigorous defense of Russian soldiers.” In his statement he says the Russians destroyed 26 tanks, 32 armored vehicles and two Su-25 fighter jets. “The enemy lost more than 560 soldiers,” he added.
Source: Capital
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