Ukraine says it is pushing Putin’s forces back in ‘successes’ on Dnipro River’s east bank

‘One of the main goals of this combat work is to push the enemy as far as possible from the right bank to protect the Ukrainian civilian population,’ the military says

Ukrainian marines sail along the Dnipro River at the frontline near Kherson last month (AP)

Ukrainian troops have pushed Russian soldiers out of positions on the eastern bank of the River Dnipro in the occupied Kherson region, Kyiv’s military said on Friday.

Crossing the Dnipro and transporting heavy military equipment and supplies over the river could allow Ukrainian troops to open a new line of attack in the south on the most direct land route to Crimea, which was seized and annexed by Russia in 2014.

The Ukrainian marines said that they had had a series of “successes”, established several bridgeheads and conducted other operations on the river’s eastern side. Russia conceded for the first time this week that Kyiv’s troops had crossed the Dnipro.

“Units of the Ukrainian armed forces managed to knock out the Russians from their positions on the left bank of the Dnipro and consolidate there,” general staff spokesperson Andriy Kovalyov said.

“One of the main goals of this combat work is to push the enemy as far as possible from the right bank to protect the Ukrainian civilian population, in particular Kherson, from constant Russian shelling,” he added.

Kherson, once a bustling city of 300,000 that has emptied as it has found itself on the front line, has been pounded by Russian artillery for months; dozens of civilians have been killed.

The Ukrainian military retook the city and the area around it on the western bank of the Dnipro in November 2022. The river, a formidable natural barrier, became the dividing line on much of the southern front.

A Ukrainian serviceman of the 123rd Territorial Defense Brigade stands guard on a position next to the Dnipro River (AFP via Getty)

Russia made no immediate statement in reaction to the Ukrainian reports. Both Russia and Ukraine say they have inflicted heavy losses on the other side during operations in the area. Reuters could not independently verify the reports.

President Volodymyr Zelensky posted images from the area on Friday, showing the military using drones and operating on speedboats on the Dnipro.

“Our warriors. Thank you for your strength, for moving forward!” he said on Telegram.

Mr Kovalyov said that Ukrainian troops were conducting sabotage and reconnaissance actions to discover and disrupt logistics for Russian ammunition and food supplies. He said the Russian military was mounting heavy resistance and had brought in reinforcements.

Very bad weather was another obstacle to Kyiv’s operations, Natalia Humeniuk, spokesperson for the southern military command said.

“We must be aware that in very bad weather conditions, they are complicated. This not only complicates a physical advance but also aerial reconnaissance. Because there is a thunderstorm warning,” she said in televised comments.

On the other hand, she added, the weather would not allow Russian troops to use their tactical aviation as much as earlier, something the Ukrainian military was using to “consolidate success”.

According to Ukrainian military bloggers, Ukrainian forces crossed the Dnipro in small groups in the summer to create an initial foothold around a railway bridge near Kherson, and then sought to expand their presence in nearby villages on the east bank, including Krynky.

The news comes months into Ukrainian counteroffensive operations in the southeast and east that have not produced a major breakthrough. Ukrainian officials have blamed extensive Russian minefields and defensive lines, and delays in supplies of weapons from the West.

Russian forces, which occupy around 17 per cent of Ukraine, are now again on the offensive in the east in the Kyiv-held town of Avdiivka, near the Moscow-held city of Bakhmut, and in other areas.

The Ukrainian military said in its daily update that fighting was raging along the entire frontline from the south to the east, reporting 72 combat clashes in the last 24 hours.

The fiercest battles were around Avdiivka, Marinka and Bakhmut in the eastern Donetsk region, it said.

Vitaliy Barabash, head of Avdiivka’s military administration, said on television that Russian forces were making a big push towards the town’s industrial zone near a vast coal plant, and bringing in reinforcements.

Elsewhere, Finland will erect barriers at four crossings on its border with Russia from midnight, officials said on Friday, in a bid to stem an increase in asylum seekers and migrants that Helsinki says has been orchestrated by Moscow.

Finland has accused Russia of retaliation to its decision to increase defence cooperation with the United States in light of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, an assertion dismissed by the Kremlin.

Barriers will go up at four of the nine crossings with Russia, at Vaalimaa, Nuijamaa, Imatra and Niirala in its southeast, the Finnish border guard said.

The Kremlin’s spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, said that Finland was making a “big mistake” by choosing a path of confrontation with Russia, state news agency TASS reported. “[One can] only express deep regret that the Finnish authorities have taken the path of destroying bilateral relations,” TASS quoted Peskov as saying.

Some 300 asylum seekers, mostly from Iraq, Yemen, Somalia and Syria, have arrived in Finland this week, according to the border guard. Nearly 100 had entered Finland from Russia by midday on Friday alone, officials said.

Reuters