“Ukrainian naval troops (…) managed to gain a foothold on several bridgeheads,” assured the command of the Ukrainian army.
Ukraine claimed on Friday May 17 the conquest of positions on the bank of the Dnieper occupied by the Russians, in the south of the country, a first success with a view to more important operations after months of a disappointing counter-offensive for Kiev . Ukrainian forces “carried out a series of successful actions on the left bank of the Dnieper River” in the Kherson region, in the south of the country, the naval infantry command announced on Facebook.
“Ukrainian naval troops, in cooperation with other units of the defense forces, managed to gain a foothold on several bridgeheads” in this area, assured their command, reporting “heavy losses” at the enemy. This is the first success claimed by the Ukrainians for their counter-offensive since the capture of the village of Robotyné in August, in the southern region of Zaporizhia.
A “hell of fire”
Kiev hoped that this reconquest would allow it to break through the Russian lines and liberate the occupied areas, but the Ukrainian army did not succeed, faced with the firepower of the Russian defenses. Taking positions on the left bank of the Dnieper should allow a larger assault towards the south. But for this, Ukraine must succeed in deploying a large number of men, vehicles and equipment in a difficult to access, sandy and marshy area.
Until now, the head of the presidential administration, Andriï Iermak, had only indicated on Tuesday that Ukrainian forces had “established a foothold on the left bank of the Dnieper”, without further details. Ukraine keeps the scale of current operations, its successes and its losses secret. The Kremlin and the Russian Defense Ministry refuse to comment on the subject.
On the other hand, on Wednesday, the leader of the occupied part of the Kherson region, Vladimir Saldo, admitted that several dozen or hundreds of Ukrainian soldiers had managed to anchor positions on the left bank of the Dnieper, in particular around the village of Krynky. He downplayed the importance of this advance, saying that Russian reinforcements had been deployed and that Ukrainian forces were under pressure. “fiery hell”. In this area of southern Ukraine, the Dnieper has served as a front line since the Russian army withdrew from the right-bank city of Kherson in November 2022.