A report from Euromaiden Press revealed on July 30 that Ukrainian forces had successfully held on to their position on the banks of the Dnipro River, close to the town of Oleshky in Kherson Oblast.
The news was significant given the intense Russian bombardments in the area, with local reporters describing their ground operation as “disastrous.”
“After the disastrous Russian ground operation, where Russian airborne units suffered from friendly fire, Russian forces temporarily switched to distant methods of eliminating the Ukrainian bridgehead,” the report reads.
Additional Russian sources also said that Russian troops went to extreme measures to push back Ukrainian forces, using incendiary munitions to burn houses used by Ukrainian troops, and then heavy flamethrower systems to inflict yet more damage.
Despite the efforts, however, Ukrainian troops had not only maintained their positions in the town, but also “conducted a planned reinforcement and continued moving further.”
The report said that Russian forces responded to the development by doubling down on their ground assault, eventually bringing in airborne assault units and all manner of armored fighting vehicles to get a substantial number of their own troops over the front line.
Even those efforts failed, however, thanks to Ukrainian mines planted strategically in areas where Russian forces were expected to advance.
And, with Wagner forces no longer fighting alongside Russian troops, the task of preventing Ukrainian gains as the long-awaited counteroffensive continues is getting more difficult by the day.
Watch Ukraine Destroy An Infantry Mobility Vehicle
Video footage shared online shows the aftermath of a Ukrainian strike on a Russian military vehicle in Oleshky. The clip, recorded from a rotary blade unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) shows the vehicle engulfed in flames, with several small explosions occurring as the vehicle burns.
The dramatic and repetitive explosions could suggest that ammunition stored onboard the vehicle were ignited by the flames.
The video was shared on Twitter by war-tracking Twitter account, Ukraine Weapons Tracker, which noted that the vehicle appeared to be a Tigr-M infantry mobility vehicle.
“On the left bank of the Dnipro River, just outside Oleshky, #Kherson Oblast, a Russian Tigr-M infantry mobility vehicle was destroyed by Ukrainian forces,” the account notes
#Ukraine: On the left bank of the Dnipro River, just outside Oleshky, #Kherson Oblast, a Russian Tigr-M infantry mobility vehicle was destroyed by Ukrainian forces. pic.twitter.com/GuqK4aT07M
— ???????? Ukraine Weapons Tracker (@UAWeapons) July 1, 2023
Twitter geotrackers confirmed the exact location of the strike, with one user adding that it occurred on the E97 road on the south end of the bridge that crosses the Konka river.
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.
