Ukraine forces report 'successful' operations on occupied Dnipro river bank

The waterway is the de facto frontline in the south of the country.

UKRAINE’S MARINE CORP has said that their forces had carried out a series of attacks on the Russian-occupied east bank of the Dnipro river near the southern city of Kherson.

The waterway is the de facto frontline in the south of the country, but Russia conceded for the first time this week that Ukrainian forces had claimed back some territory on the opposing bank.

“The Defense Forces of Ukraine conducted a series of successful operations on the left bank of the Dnipro River, along the Kherson front,” the marines said in a statement on social media.

“In cooperation with other units of the Defense Forces, managed to gain a foothold on several bridgeheads,” the statement added.

Russian and Ukrainian forces have been entrenched on opposite sides of the Dnipro river since Moscow withdrew from the western part of Kherson region last November.

The Russian-installed official responsible for occupied Kherson this week conceded that some Ukrainian soldiers were “blocked” in Krynky, a small village on the Dnipro’s eastern bank of the Dnipro river, and were facing a “fiery hell” from Russian artillery, rockets and drones.

Meanwhile, Russia has stepped up attacks on the shattered eastern Ukrainian frontline town of Avdiivka, its mayor said yesterday.

The industrial town near the Russian-held regional stronghold of Donetsk has faced a fierce onslaught for more than a month.

“It is very hot. Indeed, in the last few days, the enemy has become more active,” Vitaliy Barabash said on national television.

Russian troops are using armoured vehicles, targeting the industrial zone and hitting positions in the town “around the clock” to strike high-rise buildings, Barabash said.