Ukrainian forces have reportedly crossed the Dnipro River and retaken territory on the left bank of Kherson province, in a move that paves the way for a future possible advance towards Crimea.
According to pro-Russian Telegram channels, Ukrainian troops have seized the village of Dachi, opposite the city of Kherson, and near the destroyed Antonivskyi Bridge. They have dug in and are seeking to establish a bridgehead, the channels said.
There has been no official comment from Ukraine’s military high command but the reports suggest Ukrainian units are seeking to exploit fresh weaknesses in Russia’s defensive position after the sabotage earlier this month of the Kakhovka dam.
The explosion – which Kyiv and western governments say Moscow carried out – washed away Russian frontline positions. Russian troops have recently relocated from the left bank of Kherson province to the Zaporizhzhia region, where Ukraine is also seeking to advance.
“In the last week, enemy activity on the Dnipro in the area of Antonivskyi Bridge has grown abnormally,” the Russian military blogger Sasha Kots posted. He added: “Today we have to state Ukraine has entrenched itself on the left bank and is trying to expand the foothold.”
Pro-Kremlin bloggers said Ukrainian troops had “complete control” of several summer houses near Oleskhy, the occupied left-bank riverside town that suffered severe flooding earlier this month. Other embankment areas were in a developing “grey zone”, they added.
The hydroelectric dam explosion has made crossing the Dnipro River easier after water levels receded leaving behind a sandy plain. It is unclear if Ukrainian forces will be able to advance further. Beleaguered Russian troops were calling in artillery and aviation support, bloggers said.
Meanwhile, the Ukraine deputy defence minister Hanna Maliar said troops had liberated the village of Rivnopil, in Donetsk oblast. This happened on Sunday, in the immediate aftermath of Yevgeny Prigozhin’s mutiny against Russia’s defence ministry, during which his Wagner mercenary forces briefly took control of the city of Rostov, and advanced towards Moscow.
Video posted by the 31st separate mechanised brigade showed Ukrainian soldiers inside Rivnopil, in front of a ruined building, with the Ukrainian flag raised. “The orcs [Russians] are running away! We are moving forward. Glory to Ukraine!” its commander said.
Just in: Ukrainian troops liberate the village of Rivnopil. Video recorded yesterday by the 31st separate mechanised brigade: "The orcs are running away. We are moving forward. Glory to Ukraine!" pic.twitter.com/9GB0PpuoAo
— Luke Harding (@lukeharding1968) June 26, 2023
Since Ukraine began its long-awaited counteroffensive on 5 June progress has been modest. Maliar said Kyiv was successfully advancing in several directions. It had taken back 130 sq km of territory, including 17 sq km in the past week, she said, with Rivnopil the ninth settlement to be freed.
“Defence forces have brought Rivnopil back under our control. We are moving ahead,” she wrote on Telegram.
Russian battalions captured Rivnopil in March 2022 as they swept through southern Ukraine and laid siege to the city of Mariupol. Once a Jewish settlement, with a population of 1,500, its recapture suggests Ukraine’s counteroffensive is gaining momentum.
On Saturday, Ukrainian commanders said they had for the first time taken back territory lost in 2014, when Vladimir Putin annexed Crimea and kickstarted a covert Russian takeover of the eastern Donbas region.
Ukrainian troops advanced half a kilometre, Valeriy Shershen, press officer for the Tavria joint forces command, said. They captured “several Russian positions” outside the village of Krasnohorivka, which has been under Russian control for nine years. The village is located near Donetsk, the occupied capital of the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic, a key Russian military centre.
There were further tactical gains along other parts of the 600-mile-long frontline. Over the weekend, Ukrainian infantry units pushed forward between 500 and 1,000 metres outside the city of Bakhmut. They also cleared enemy troops from the Siviersky-Donets canal, a strategic waterway eight kilometres south of the city.
Wagner volunteers fought in and around Bakhmut for months, finally taking control of the city in May. They subsequently pulled out, as part of Prigozhin’s feud with Russia’s defence minister, Sergei Shoigu. Ukrainian forces are seeking to encircle Bakhmut from two directions.
