Ukrainian forces made their biggest advance in the south of the country since the start of the war, breaking through the front line and rushing along the Dnipro River on Monday, threatening to encircle thousands of Russian soldiers.
Kyiv did not officially confirm the gains, but Russian sources admitted that a Ukrainian tank attack advanced tens of kilometers along the west bank of the river and recaptured several villages along the way.
This advance reflects Ukraine’s recent successes in the east, which has turned the tide of the war against Russia, even as Moscow tries to raise the stakes by annexing territory, ordering mobilization, and threatening nuclear retaliation.
“The information is tense, let’s put it that way, because yes, there really has been progress,” Vladimir Saldo, Russia’s leader in the occupied areas of Ukraine’s Kherson province, told Russian state television.
“There is a settlement called Dudchany on the banks of the Dnipro River, and right there, in that area, there has been progress. There are settlements occupied by Ukrainian forces,” he said.
Dudchany lies about 40 km south of where the front was the day before, marking one of the fastest advances of the war and by far the fastest in the south, where Russian forces were deployed in heavily fortified positions along a largely static line. faced from the first weeks of the occupation.
While Kyiv remained almost completely silent, as during major offensives in the past, some officials have released reports of what they call unconfirmed gains.
Anton Gerashchenko, adviser to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, published a photo of Ukrainian soldiers posing with their flags covering a golden angel statue. He said that it was the village of Mikhailivka, about 20 km from the previous front.
The southerly advance reflects tactics that have brought major gains to Kiev since early September in eastern Ukraine, where his forces are rapidly seizing territory to seize control of Russian supply lines and force troops to withdraw.
Just hours after a concert in Moscow’s Red Square on Friday, when Russian President Vladimir Putin declared the provinces of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia to be Russian territories forever, Ukraine has rebuilt Lyman, the main fortress in the north of Russia’s Donetsk province. seized.
This paves the way for advances deep into Luhansk province, threatening key supply routes to areas Moscow captured in some of the bloodiest battles of the war in June and July.
source: Noticias
