Ukrainian forces have made more gains in their counter-offensive across at least two fronts, advancing in the very areas that Russia is trying to absorb. In their latest breakthrough yesterday (October 3), their forces penetrated Russian defences in the strategic southern Kherson region, one of the four areas in Ukraine that Russia is in the process of annexing.
Kyiv’s troops also consolidated gains in the east, re-establishing Ukrainian control as Russian President Vladimir Putin is trying to overcome problems with manpower, weapons, troop morale and logistics, along with intensifying domestic and international criticism.
Ukraine’s advances have become so apparent that even Russian Defence Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov, who usually focuses on his own military’s successes and, was forced to acknowledge it. “With numerically superior tank units in the direction of Zolota Balka and Oleksandrivka, the enemy managed to forge deep into our defences,” Mr Konashenkov said yesterday, referring to two towns in the Kherson region. He coupled that with claims that Russian forces inflicted heavy losses on Ukraine’s military.
