Ukraine tries to advance on Kherson to force Russian withdrawal south of the Dnieper River

Ukrainian troops continue their advance in Jershon, in the south of the country. The Ukrainian Army has been trying in recent days to make progress in this region to force the Russian withdrawal from the left bank of the Dnieper River.. A situation that, however, occurs while resisting the Russian push on the eastern front, where troops have been attacking without pause for weeks.

Ukraine has thus managed to create several fronts on the left side of the river. It has done so through the deployment of troops, armored vehicles and the taking of some small towns.. Thus, according to the American Institute for the Study of War (ISW), which cites geolocated images and Russian military bloggers, Ukrainian troops have entered about three or four kilometers into the left bank of the Dnieper.

The ISW considers that the defensive and offensive combats that the Russian Army is waging in other sectors are limiting its ability to move reinforcements to the south of the region, located north of the already annexed Crimean peninsula.

This progress has also been picked up by the president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, who in a speech addressed to the entire nation thanked “all those who fight” in Kherson “for the good of Ukraine.”

Despite this situation, the Russian military report this Monday has not made any reference to these events and has limited itself to expressing that on this front the enemy had lost “up to 60 soldiers” in one day.. Additionally, Russian forces continue offensive operations in eastern Ukraine. According to the ISW, these attacks are taking place mainly in the towns of Kupiansk and Kreminna, as well as in the southern region of Zaporizhzhia.

Protect the sky

In turn, Ukraine is increasingly protecting its skies in an attempt to end Russian superiority in the air.. “The Ukrainian air shield is already stronger than last year,” Zelensky also assured in his speech.

In his words, the Ukrainian leader regretted that the shield “does not protect all Ukrainian territory” but he thanked Kiev's partners who have helped reinforce its anti-aircraft defense system, including the United States, Germany, France, and the United Kingdom.

Likewise, the center for training pilots of American-made F-16 fighters, which Ukraine hopes to receive in early 2024, has also been inaugurated in Romania these days.