Ukraine managed to occupy positions on the bank of the Dnieper river under Russian control, in the south of the country, the head of the local authorities appointed by Russia admitted today, but also added that the Ukrainian soldiers went "through hell" prepared for them by the Russian army.
If the Ukrainian army succeeds in breaking through the Russian lines in that sector, it would be a great success since its counter-offensive since June has not brought significant results.
"Approximately one and a half companies, divided into smaller groups, are located in the section that goes from the railway bridge to the village of Krinki," Vladimir Saldo, the leader of the occupied part of the Kherson region, wrote on Telegram, the first Russian official to admit that Ukrainian forces managed to cross the Dnieper in that zone.
According to the military dictionary of the Russian news agency Tass, a company can have from a few dozen to more than 200 soldiers.
Saldo sought to downplay the Ukrainian advance by saying that Russian reinforcements had been sent and that Ukrainian forces were under heavy fire.
"Additional (Russian) forces have now been deployed. The enemy is blocked in the town of Krinki in a hell of fire - bombs, rockets, thermobaric weapons, artillery, drones falling on them," he said via Telegram.
According to him, the Ukrainians suffered considerable losses. He did not mention the losses of the Russian side.
Russian and Ukrainian military bloggers and experts who have analyzed available intelligence sources say that since the end of October, the Ukrainian army has managed to consolidate several positions on the occupied side of the Dnieper, especially in the village of Krinki, in the southern Kherson region.
If Ukraine manages to consolidate and expand its positions in that zone, it could hope for a breakthrough, since the Dnieper has been the front line in southern Ukraine since November 2022, when the Russians withdrew from the city of Kherson.
Kiev does not talk about its operations in that zone, and Moscow has not commented on the situation in that sector so far.
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