Russian troops occupying the city of Kherson have been left “virtually isolated” from the main invading force, Britain’s Defense Ministry said Thursday in its intelligence update, as the Ukrainian military continues to mount a counteroffensive in the south of the country to retrieve the key. village.
In its daily update, the British Ministry of Defence said Ukraine’s counterattack in the region was “gaining momentum” and had controlled damage to at least 3 key bridges the Russian army had to send its troops west of the Dnipro River.
The update adds that the Russian 49th Army, which is deployed along the western bank of the Dnieper, “now looks very vulnerable. “
The city of Kherson is important politically and symbolically for both sides, as it is the most important Ukrainian city under Russian rule outside the eastern part of Ukraine, which has been the main target of Moscow’s offensive.
According to the BBC, Ukrainian forces have effectively deployed long-range artillery batteries, adding the American-made HIMARS system, to win the hand in the counteroffensive.
The Ukrainian military now expects Russia to send more reinforcements to Kherson.
Oleksiy Danilov, secretary of Ukraine’s National Security Council, said last Wednesday: “The enemy is moving the maximum number [of forces]. . . a very hard movement of its troops on the Kherson front has begun, and they are advancing towards more forces. . . I need to say that in any case the victory will be ours.
290,000. This is the total population of Kherson before the Russian invasion of Ukraine earlier this year. This makes Kherson one of the most populous cities captured by Russian forces.
Kherson was one of the first major Ukrainian cities to be captured at the beginning of the invasion. Russia controlled the capture of other major cities such as Mariupol and Luhansk, but unlike those cities, Kherson did not witness prolonged fighting, a large number of civilian casualties, or near-total destruction of infrastructure. Instead, the Kremlin has used Kherson as a propaganda tool by organizing what Ukrainian officials call “fake referendums” and “fake social polls. “Moscow-based directors in Kherson also demanded that all newborns in the city obtain Russian citizenship. Russian officials founded in Kherson are now seeking to approve a referendum to officially register in Russia.
As Ukrainian forces attempt a counterattack in the southern region of the country, the Russian military introduced a new wave of rocket fire into major cities in northern Ukraine, adding its capital Kyiv and Chernihiv, the Associated Press reported. It is unclear whether those moves are in retaliation for Ukraine’s successes in the south, however, Russia has hesitated to target major population centers in Ukraine and cause heavy casualties in recent months.
Kherson: Ukraine intensifies counteroffensive to retake the city (BBC News)
Kherson: How does Russia impose its domination on occupied Ukraine?(BBC News)
Moscow claims that young children born in the occupied Kherson will get Russian citizenship. (New York Times)