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KIEV, Ukraine — Ukraine’s military has launched a long-awaited counteroffensive against occupying Russian forces, ushering in a crucial phase of the war aimed at restoring Ukraine’s territorial sovereignty and maintaining Western support in the fight against Moscow’s hegemony.
According to four members of the country’s armed forces, Ukrainian troops, including specialized assault units armed with Western weapons and trained in NATO tactics, stepped up their attacks on frontline positions in the south-east of the country on Wednesday night, beginning a significant push into those of Russia occupied territories territory.
The four military personnel, including officers, spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to publicly discuss developments on the battlefield.
Russian military bloggers also reported fierce fighting in the Zaporizhia region, a part of the front line that has long been considered a likely site for the new Ukrainian campaign.
By pushing south through the flat fields of Zaporizhia, Kiev forces could aim to sever the “land bridge” between mainland Russia and the occupied Crimea peninsula, cutting off vital Russian supply lines. They could also try to liberate the city of Melitopol, which Russia has declared the occupied capital of the region, and Enerhodar, where the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant is located.
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Valeriy Shershen, a spokesman for the Ukrainian military units stationed across much of the eastern and southern fronts, confirmed “more activity” in the Zaporizhia region, but added that he “wouldn’t say it’s a big deal.” . In general, in the Zaporizhia region, Ukrainian forces “are still in a defensive operation,” Shershen said in an interview.
Ukrainian officials have repeatedly said in recent days that they would not officially announce the start of the counteroffensive and that no single action would mark its start.
In the interview, Shershen also described “small counter-offensive activities” at the local level, most notably the battle for Velyka Novosilka, a village in the Donetsk region east of the Zaporizhia region. He added that the Russians had increased their shelling in the Zaporizhia region in anticipation of a possible Ukrainian attack.
The offensive is expected to unfold over months and serve as a crucial test of a US-led strategy to prepare Ukrainian forces for the most advanced tactics of war.
Igor Strelkov, a former officer in the Russian Security Service who played a brutal role in Russia’s illegal annexation of Crimea in 2014 and later in the war in the eastern Donbass region, said Thursday it was clear that Ukraine’s counteroffensive was underway started.
“Perhaps now we can reliably say that the offensive of the Armed Forces of Ukraine started five to six days ago,” Strelkov wrote on Telegram, providing an analysis of troop movements at various hotspots along the front.
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The counteroffensive is intensifying as a crisis deepens in Ukraine’s southern Kherson region, where a rupture of the Russian-controlled Kakhovka Dam and hydroelectric power station on Tuesday sent water spilling over the banks of the Dnieper River and into dozens of residential communities across Ukraine From Russia controlled areas. The massive floods reshaped the battlefield in this part of the Southern Front.
In the Zaporizhia region, great obstacles will stand in the way of Ukraine. Russian forces have spent months fortifying the area with mines and trenches. A member of a brigade involved in the offensive in the south-east described “continued heavy fighting”.
“It’s very difficult on the field,” he said on Thursday morning. “Our artillery and aviation are working, but so are the Russians. It’s difficult for us and for them. The armed forces are advancing. But not as fast as we wanted.”
Isobel Koshiw in Kiev, Ukraine; Natalia Abbakumova in Riga, Latvia; and Francesca Ebel in London contributed to this report.
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