The quick expansion of their assault in the east has allowed Ukrainian forces to retake additional land in Moscow’s seized regions while simultaneously breaching Russian fortifications in the south of the nation. This poses a threat to Russian soldiers’ supply lines.
Ukrainian forces recovered three villages on Monday in an advance along the vital Dnipro River, marking their largest success in the south since the start of the conflict, according to Ukrainian authorities and a Russian-installed authority in the region.
Even while Moscow has attempted to heighten the stakes by annexing territory, demanding mobilisation, and threatening nuclear reprisal, the southern breakthrough matches previous Ukrainian successes in the east.
Two of the four Russian-occupied territories that Moscow last week seized following what it termed referendums—votes that Kyiv and Western nations criticised as unlawful and coercive—have now seen substantial progress by Ukraine.
Reuters observed columns of Ukrainian military vehicles moving on Monday toward the rail hub Lyman, which had been retaken over the weekend, and a staging area to advance into the Donbas region, as an indication that Ukraine is gaining ground on the eastern front.
Without going into further detail, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that the Ukrainian army had taken back towns in a number of places.
In various locations, new population concentrations have been freed. Several forward sectors are seeing intense fighting, Zelenskyy stated in a video address.
Psychiatric hospital in the village of Svatovo, a goal on the way to retaking the important cities of Lysychansk and Sivierodonetsk, has been taken over, according to Serhiy Gaidai, the governor of Luhansk, one of the two regions that make up the Donbas.
They have set up defensive positions in the building’s extensive network of underground compartments, he told Ukrainian television. Although that may be a sensible strategy, it won’t help them.
According to Vladimir Saldi, the Russian-installed leader in the seized portions of Ukraine’s Kherson region, Ukrainian soldiers have retaken the town of Dudchany on the west bank of the Dnipro River, which divides the nation.
There are communities that Ukrainian soldiers have taken control of, according to Saldi.
The front has advanced the quickest in the south so far of the battle at Dudchany, which is around 30 kilometres (20 miles) south of where it was before Monday’s breakthrough. Since the first several weeks of the invasion, Russian soldiers had been holed up in well fortified positions along a mostly stationary front line.
Although Kyiv has not yet provided a comprehensive account of the events, Ukrainian military and regional officials have disclosed some information.
According to a video published by the Defense Ministry, members of the 128th Mountain Assault Brigade of Ukraine flew the national flag at Myrolyubivka, a settlement situated between the former front and the Dnipro.
Serhiy Khlan, a councillor for the Kherson area, also named four more settlements that had been taken back person where Ukrainian military had been spotted.
It indicates that our armed troops are advancing forcefully along the Dnipro River’s banks toward Beryslav, he explained.
The developments could not be independently verified by Reuters.
