Ukraine launches counteroffensive in south

Russia plays down assault but reports by military bloggers suggest that Ukraine made breakthroughs to the northeast of Kherson.

Ukrainian gunners let rip with a Soviet-era 2S7 Pion self-propelled gun in the eastern Donetsk region. Their comrades to the south on Sunday launched a counter-offensive to retake territory captured in the first weeks of the invasion. The long-telegraphed counter-punch forced the Kremlin to shift thousands of troops from the eastern front to the south. Picture: Reuters

Ukraine has launched a military offensive in its south aimed at ­retaking territory captured by Russia in the early days of the war and firmly seizing the initiative after six months of fighting.

Ukrainian officials said the country’s forces were going on the attack after artillery struck bridges, ammunition depots and military facilities in occupied territory overnight on Sunday and on Monday. The scope and immediate ­effects of the offensive were difficult to assess, as Ukrainian officials declined to provide details, citing the secrecy required in military operations.

“There is news. It has inspired everyone. We need to be patient,” said Nataliya Humeniuk, a spokeswoman for Ukraine’s southern military command.

Oleksiy Arestovych, a Ukrainian presidential adviser, said late on Monday that Ukrainian forces had broken through the front lines in several places and had almost completely cut supply lines across the Dnipro River to Russian troops on its western bank. For now, he said, it looked like “a nice little offensive” that Ukrainian ­forces were seeking to develop.

The result of the offensive could set the tone for the next phase of the war. After Ukraine ­repelled a Russian thrust towards Kyiv in the northern spring, Moscow’s forces captured some territory in its neighbour’s east by using artillery and airstrikes to demolish cities and then seize them.

With Russian efforts in the east appearing exhausted, Ukraine has said in recent weeks that it would strike back in the south, where it has sought to slice Russian supply lines by striking ammunition depots, command posts and bridges.

Monday’s operation offers rewards but poses risks. Gains would boost national morale and help persuade Ukraine’s Western backers that it can defeat Russia and that stronger military support could help Kyiv press any advantage. Failure could allow Russia to consolidate its hold in a region it has indicated it would like to annex, and test Western support for Kyiv.

Russia played down the assault on Monday. Officials installed in occupied southern Ukraine by Russia initially denied there was any Ukrainian offensive. On Monday evening, the Russian Ministry of Defence said the attacks had failed and resulted in heavy losses for Ukraine.

But reports by Russian military bloggers suggested that Ukraine made breakthroughs to the northeast of Kherson, the regional capital, after bombarding the towns of Beryslav and Nova Kakhovka.

The bloggers, who are closely connected with the Russian military, said Ukrainian forces had broken through Russian lines, taking control of the village of Sukhiy Stavok. They said Russia repulsed assaults elsewhere, but fierce fighting was continuing for villages along the Inhulets River as Ukraine sought to expand a bridgehead on its eastern bank.

Ukraine has long telegraphed its intention to wield a counterpunch in the south, leading the Russians to shift thousands of troops there from Ukraine’s east. But Ukrainian government and military officials had said they lacked the tanks and other armoured vehicles needed for an ­offensive. Ukraine, they said, was instead focusing on cutting Russian supply lines to the western bank of the Dnipro, including in Kherson.

Ukraine has hit bridges across the river using precise, long-range rockets provided by the US. Ukrainian sabotage teams also struck in Crimea, destroying at least eight Russian warplanes and setting off a fire at an ammunition depot.

Ukrainian officials said on Monday that they hit the bridge over the Dnipro at Nova Kakhovka, as well as ammunition depots and other military facilities in Kherson and other cities in the region. Ukrainians posting on social media described many explosions in Kherson and several neighbouring towns on Monday.

In his nightly address, President Volodymyr Zelensky said he would not give any information on the military situation. “The occupiers should know: we will drive them to the border,” he said.

Some Ukrainian officials posted messages on social media mocking the Russians. “I am informed that demand for inflatable boats and mattresses has risen sharply on the right bank of the Dnipro,” Vitaliy Kim, governor of the neighbouring region of Mykolaiv, wrote on Telegram.

At the same time, Mr Kim reported heavy missile attacks on Mykolaiv on Monday that killed two civilians and injured 24.

Also on Monday, Russia confirmed reports from Ukraine that a former legislator who was collaborating with Russian occupation forces had been shot dead at his home in Kherson on Sunday.

Russia’s Investigative Committee said it was investigating the murder of Aleksei Kovalyov, who was serving as deputy head of the Russian-installed administration in Kherson.

The killing of Mr Kovalyov is the highest-profile in a series of slayings of collaborators in Russian-occupied territories.

The Wall Street Journal