Ukraine launches raids across the Dnipro River as a counterattack approaches

KIEV (Reuters) – Ukrainian forces stationed on the western side of the Dnipro River frequently launch raids on the eastern bank near the city of Kherson, a regional official said on Tuesday, in an attempt to drive out Russian forces.

Russian forces have controlled the eastern side of the Dnipro River near Kherson since withdrawing from the southern city in November after months of occupation, but Ukraine is expected to launch a counter-offensive in the spring to try to regain more territory.

Yuri Sobolevsky, deputy head of the Kherson regional administration, said the raids were aimed at reducing the combat capability of the Russian forces that have bombed the city of Kherson since they were forced to retreat.

“We visit our military to the left (eastern) bank very often and carry out raids. The Ukrainian armed forces are working and working very effectively,” Sobolevsky told Ukrainian television.

“The results will come as it happened on the right bank of the Kherson region when, thanks to a complex and long operation, they managed to liberate our lands with minimal losses for our army. The same thing is happening now on the left bank.

Russia captured the Kherson region shortly after its massive invasion of Ukraine 14 months ago, and has since continued to control all of the region’s territory east of the Dnipro.

Military analysts say Ukraine is likely to soon launch a counterattack, and that one of the main objectives could be breaching a southern land corridor between Russia and the Russian-annexed Crimea region. The restoration of the entire Kherson region will be an important step towards achieving this goal.

The US-based Institute for the Study of War said last week that Russian military bloggers had published enough geo-referenced footage to confirm that Ukrainian forces had established a foothold on the eastern bank of the Dnipro River.

Sobolevsky did not give further details, saying that the military operation required “media silence”.

(Reporting by Olenna Harmash; Editing by Timothy Heritage)

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