Russian military digs south as bloody Ukrainian counterattack expected
The war in Ukraine is approaching its bloodiest phase yet, according to senior Ukrainian officials and Western analysts who say a long-threatening southern counter-offensive by Kyiv’s forces will result in “enormous fighting” and It would need to be dug up fast- in Russian troops.
People interviewed by the Guardian, including those who have recently fled Kherson, describe Russian forces in the south building rigid tank shelters, digging trenches and bringing prefabricated concrete pillboxes by lorry.
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An escalation in attacks in recent days against major Russian weapons stores and logistics around Kherson – which fell to Russian forces in early March – have added to suggestions that some Ukrainian forces may be approaching the long-held offensive. Maybe, even Russian officials say. They are planning to add further area.
Hidden in an area of dense scrub at his quarters in a training area in the south of the country, “Makita”—a Ukrainian battalion infantry instructor who only wanted to name himself de Guerre—described the challenges for a southern offensive.
“We are currently maintaining our position east of MycoLive. But the intention is to liberate the territories occupied by the Russian army. The biggest challenge is to do so with minimal damage from the Ukrainian side.
“Russian forces, which are already in good shape, are strengthening them,” he said. “They had a month in which to improve the defense. They are bringing in stockpiles and more weapons, including 2S7s [self-propelled heavy artillery].
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“The first task will be to push the Russians towards Kherson and up the Dniepro [Dnieper] River. We know this is going to be difficult.”
Along the far western end of the 120-mile southern border marked by the city of Mykolaiv, any Ukrainian offensive would be seen as a crucial test of whether Kyiv’s troops could push back in force as opposed to limited and local retaliation. seen so far.
This week’s announcement by the Russian foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, that Russia is expanding its war objectives from the Donbass, including the Kherson and Zaporizhzhya regions in the south, calls on Kyiv to follow through on his promise to expel Russian forces from those areas. pressure is increased. is captured.
Ukrainian officials, for their part, have made clear that the next phase of the war could escalate into even more violence, amid the risk of a Russian escalation in response to any Ukrainian push to the south. Earlier this month Ukraine’s deputy prime minister and Minister for the Reunification of the Temporarily Occupied Territories, Irina Vereshchuk, called for the release of Ukrainians in the occupied territories by all means. “There will be a big fight. I don’t want to scare anyone; Everyone understands everything anyway,” she said.
Mykolaiv’s mayor, Alexander Senkevich, whose city has endured months of attacks almost daily, said: “Military doctrine says you need a three-to-one advantage if you’re attacking. But they [ The [Russians] are building fortifications, including tank blinds, to protect their armor. They will try to extend any battle to the winter when they are in cover while our soldiers are in the field.
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“But with our city being targeted almost every day, and Ukrainians being killed every day, we need to retaliate.”
What is clear is that if there is a counter-offensive in the coming weeks and months, Kherson will be at the center of it. Russian commanders are reported to have moved troops from more vulnerable positions to focus on urban areas such as Kherson, whose recapture is widely regarded as one of Kyiv’s primary objectives, as well as major ones on the Dnieper River. Digging trench system around Antonivsky Bridge. city.
Britain’s Defense Ministry assessment described the bridge as a “critical vulnerability to Russian forces”, and Ukrainian attacks this week have pierced it.
It is one of two main routes into the city, along with a road over the dam in Nova Kakhovka, east of Kherson, a town that has repulsed recent Ukrainian attacks on ammunition stores and logistics. The threat to Antonivsky Bridge is considered particularly dangerous for Russian forces there.
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Eugene Virlich and Vladislav Gladkij, two Ukrainian journalists who had fled Kherson earlier in July after hiding in the city for months, described the situation there.
Virlich said of the Russians: “They are deepening their presence there.
“They know that the Ukrainian army is approaching from one side.” Virlich suggested that in one place they could be as close as six miles from the city.
“The Russians have also become too repressive. They are looking for activists, any signs of anyone who is pro-Ukraine, and they are now moving their checkpoints around the city.”
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Russian military digs south as bloody Ukrainian counterattack expected
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(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by News East India staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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