Ukraine soldiers say they’re advancing in south, but at a cost

Troops recuperating at a hospital in the south of the country say they face fierce fighting in a push toward Kherson.

Ukrainian army units pushing toward Kherson in the south are retaking ground held for months by Russia’s invading troops amid extremely fierce fighting, say Ukrainian soldiers taking part in the offensive.

Russian soldiers seemed well equipped and were putting up stiff resistance, the Ukrainians said.

“They’re throwing everything against us,” said a 22-year-old Ukrainian soldier who said Russians were fighting with artillery, tanks, helicopters and mortars. “They have a lot of equipment but few men.”

Interviews with eight soldiers who took part in fighting – and were being treated for injuries at a hospital behind the front lines – offered the most detailed on-the-ground picture yet from an offensive that Ukraine hopes will help it seize the initiative in the conflict and show its Western backers, and its own people, that its military can take on Moscow’s army and win.

Ukrainian officials are saying little publicly about the offensive, citing the need for secrecy in military operations.

The Pentagon’s assessment, given at a briefing late on Wednesday, appeared to support the soldiers’ cautious optimism. “We are aware of Ukrainian military operations that have made some forward movement, and in some cases in the Kherson region we are aware in some cases of Russian units falling back,” air force brigadier general Patrick Ryder said.

The attacks on Monday at several points along the front lines came after weeks of softening-up Russian forces with long-range rocket attacks. Ukraine’s long-awaited thrust in the south is advancing into territory that the Russians occupied in the early days of their invasion, say soldiers who took part in fighting. But it’s a hard slog against a well-equipped enemy, they said.

Ivan, a 32-year-old private, said his unit’s task was simple: “Go in, f--k them up, retake what’s ours.” He said the offensive started well for his unit, which seized a village from the Russians in the early hours of fighting. But that same day, Monday, he wound up in hospital with a concussion after a teammate fired a rocket launcher a few steps from where he stood.

“The guys are in a fighting mood,” said Ivan, a former construction worker from southwest Ukraine. “They’re moving forward.” Some Russian troops are fleeing their positions, he said, abandoning equipment and booby-trapping the bodies of dead comrades they leave behind.

Ivan said Ukrainian forces had thrust toward Kherson, the regional capital, and were trying to clear villages along the way.

Russian military bloggers who are close to the country’s defence ministry have noted another Ukrainian advance, across the Inhulets River to the northeast of Kherson. The Russian Defence Ministry has described Ukraine’s offensive as a failure.

“We’re advancing in some areas and being battered in others,” said Pavlo, a 22-year-old soldier who was concussed in a battle on Tuesday and says he now hears a sound akin to a broken television in his head.

The head of the intensive care unit where some of the soldiers were being treated said the military warned him of the offensive a week in advance, spurring hopes of imminent victories.

“But when they started bringing in such a large number of wounded, then, honestly, I felt sorry for them and I started wondering if this was worth doing at such a cost,” he said. “I don’t know. There’s no right answer here.”

Ukrainian officials and military analysts have said that Ukrainian losses, even if the offensive is successful, could be high as they are assaulting an entrenched enemy with significant firepower that can quickly chew up troops.

At the ICU, six servicemen in comas occupied beds in two wards separated by a thin wall. In one, doctors were fighting to save the life of a 47-year-old armour crewman injured when his tank was hit on Tuesday, his chest heaving as surgeons performed a tracheotomy to restore his breathing.

The doctor said he felt on the verge of a breakdown as he had dealt with more soldiers than at any time since the first weeks of the war. Faced with the influx, doctors are fighting to save the lives of those in critical condition before sending them to better-equipped hospitals once they are stable.

The head of the ICU said that on Monday he took in a 27-year-old soldier with a broken leg, concussion, torn lung, ruptured liver, stomach, colon and bowel. “Head, chest, limbs, stomach, concussions, they come with all kinds of injuries,” he said. “The effect of an explosion damages everything.”

But among the injured, the doctor said he was most struck by their desire to continue fighting as soon as they are physically able.

Ivan said his concussion was his third since he was mobilised at the start of Russia’s invasion, and it was only because his commander ordered him evacuated that he ended up at the hospital. “I want to get back to our guys,” he said, playing down his injuries despite struggling to hear. “I wanted to return the moment I left.”

The Wall Street Journal