Ukrainian President Zelenskyy calls on Russian soldiers to flee counterattacks by his troops. However, he does not want to talk about the details of the offensive. The Russian side denies Ukrainian successes.
Six months after Russian troops invaded southern Ukraine, the Ukrainian army launched a counteroffensive. The Ukrainian military said the Russians’ outermost line of defense in the Kherson region had been breached in several places. The Defense Ministry in Moscow confirmed Ukrainian attacks in the Kherson and Mykolayiv Oblasts, but claimed they “failed miserably.” The Ukrainian army suffered heavy losses in soldiers and technology. There is no evidence for this.
Statements from the occupying authorities, which assured that nothing was happening, speak for nervousness on the Russian side. The alleged offensive is “as usual a fake Ukrainian propaganda,” said Crimea’s head of administration, Sergei Aksyonov. Russian nationalist and former Separatist field commander Igor Girkin confirmed the attacks on Telegram. So far, however, they have only been intended as a demonstration, and Ukraine has not yet deployed its main forces. Pentagon officials came to a similar conclusion, speaking of “scanning” the front, according to US broadcaster CNN.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy only hinted at the offensive on Monday evening. No one who behaves responsibly will say anything about their plans during the war. “But the occupiers should know: We’re driving them across the border. Our border, where nothing has changed.” He goes on to say that “Ukraine is taking back its country.” If the Russian soldiers wanted to survive, it was “time to get out. Go home.” Those who are afraid of returning to Russia should surrender. “We guarantee them compliance with all the norms of the Geneva Conventions.”
The US government declined to comment on the details. The spokesman for the National Security Council, John Kirby, pointed out that Ukraine had long announced and prepared the counter-offensive. That alone forced Russia to withdraw troops from the embattled Donbass to the south. According to the Foreign Ministry, experts from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) are expected in Kyiv. They are to inspect the Russian-occupied Zaporizhia nuclear power plant.
The city of Kherson, on the right bank of the Dnipro River, was captured by Russian troops advancing from the Crimean Peninsula early in the February invasion. Zelenskyy and his military leadership have been talking about an attack in the south since June. Politically, Ukraine is under time pressure because Russia wants to incorporate the conquered territories and is presumably preparing referendums on this for September. However, there are hardly any secured details about the offensive.
According to the southern group of the Ukrainian army, units of the Donetsk separatists and Russian marines were forced to retreat. More precise locations were not given. CNN, citing Ukrainian military sources, reported that four villages near Kherson, including Pravdyne, had been captured. The information cannot be verified.
According to Russian information, the two crossings over the Dnipro near Antonivka and Nowa Kachowska were fired on again. With such attacks, the Ukrainian army has been trying for some time to cut off supplies to the large Russian bridgehead on the right bank of the Dnipro.
Explosions were also reported from Cherson itself and from the city of Melitopol, which was also occupied by the Russians. Ukrainian authorities urged people to leave the occupied territories if possible. If this is not possible, they should stock up on food and water and seek shelter in solid buildings. According to the authorities, two people died and 24 people were injured in the center of the Ukrainian-controlled city of Mykolaiv.