The Southern Command of the Ukrainian Armed Forces announced this Monday the start of an offensive in the south of the countryto recover Kherson, the first province fell to the Russians at the beginning of the war.
The Ukrainian authorities have been talking for months about a possible counteroffensive in Kherson. In that region, bordering Crimea, the Ukrainian forces have bombarded with artillery in recent days behind Russian lines, reaching terrestrial communication links and Russian military infrastructures, while supporting raids on the river Dnieperaccording to the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), an American analysis center.
The Ukrainian public television channel quotes Natalia Humeniuk, spokesperson for the Armed Forces Southern Command, assuring that a offensive “in various directions, including the region of Kherson”.
According to Humeniuk, the attacks “have unquestionably weakened the enemy”, and ten ammunition depots have been destroyed in a week, he added, adding that the HIMARS systems they have destroyed almost all the bridges that give access to the capital of the region. “The Russian Army turned out to be isolated from the supply of weapons and personnel from the territory of Crimea. This is a brilliant opportunity for Ukraine to regain its territories“, he explained. Until now, the most significant advances would have occurred in the Kryvyi Rig area.
They ask for “silence” to carry out the military operation
Natalia Humeniuk has justified the “silence” about the development of the operation: “It is very bad that any news from the front causes such a stir”, she has emphasized, according to Radio Svoboda. Volodymyr Zelensky’s presidential adviser, Mikhailo Podoliakhas asked, like the spokeswoman for the Defense Forces in the south of the country, that sensitive information or subjective opinions about the Ukrainian Armed Forces or their operations not be disseminated.
“Once again I remind all politicians, experts and public opinion leaders of the importance of not manipulate or speculate on information about the course of military operations before the official statements of the representatives of the Armed Forces or the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine,” Podoliak requested, as reported by the UNIAN news agency.
For his part, the deputy chief of the Arussian military administration from the Kherson region, Kiril Stremusov, has pointed out that the Ukrainian Armed Forces’ counter-offensive is based on “false statements” and increases the desire of the population to “hold a referendum”according to the TASS news agency.
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