Ukrainian Troops Cross Dnipro River In Preparation For New Offensive – Yuriy Sobolevskiy, the deputy head of Ukraine’s Kherson regional administration, said on Ukrainian television this week that Ukrainian forces to the west of the Dnipro River continue to carry out raids on the eastern bank.
The regional official’s comments come as Ukrainian forces reportedly prepare for a new counter-offensive.
According to Sobolevskiy, Kyiv troops are working to hinder the combat abilities of Russian forces on the other side of the river, who have relied heavily on artillery strikes since being pushed out of the city.
Sobolevskiy described how Ukrainian forces cross the river “very often” to conduct raids, and that they are working “very effectively.”
“The results will come as they did on the right bank of the Kherson region when, thanks to a complex and long operation, they were able to liberate our territories with minimal losses for our military,” the Ukrainian official said. “The same thing happens now on the left bank.”
On Monday, the Institute for the Study Of War suggested that Ukrainian forces are not only crossing the river but have already established positions on the east bank. According to the American think tank, geolocated footage, and text reports shared online by Russian military bloggers confirm that the positions have already been established – but the Ukrainian military has yet to confirm the reports.
Last week, Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar said that any new counter-offensive would not be announced.
Ukraine’s New Offensive
Kyiv forces successfully crossing the river and conducting raids could be a sign of a more to come, but it won’t be easy.
Russia quickly took control of the Kherson region to the east of the Dnipro River after the invasion began in February, 2022.
Losing even a fraction of the land to the east of the river could prove a turning point in the conflict, and Kyiv is choosing the most opportune time, with Russian forces reportedly moving to defensive positions everywhere in Ukraine except Bakhmut.
While the Kremlin focuses resources on taking control of a city that many analysts say is strategically insignificant for Russia, Ukraine could break through in Kherson and cut off Russia’s land corridor between Crimea and the Russian mainland.
Russian forces are not likely to give up that land bridge easily, however, and may deploy fighter jets to ensure that Ukrainian ground forces don’t make the kind of gains necessary to cut off that key supply route.
Jack Buckby is 19FortyFive’s Breaking News Editor. He is a British author, counter-extremism researcher, and journalist based in New York. Reporting on the U.K., Europe, and the U.S., he works to analyze and understand left-wing and right-wing radicalization, and reports on Western governments’ approaches to the pressing issues of today. His books and research papers explore these themes and propose pragmatic solutions to our increasingly polarized society.
