Towards opening a new front in Ukraine? While the positions between Russians and Ukrainians are inexorably frozen along the entire front, “violent fighting” has been going on for several weeks on the left bank of the Dnieper, which was occupied by Moscow’s troops in February 2022 and has been occupied ever since. Kiev troops have carried out “a series of successful actions” between the Nova Kakhovka dam, destroyed in June this year, and the mouth of the Dnieper, the Ukrainian Marine Corps assured on Friday, November 17, claiming that they had captured “several” bridgeheads ” in this area and “heavy losses” for the enemy.
In fact, the Ukrainians have been conducting operations in this region for almost a year. Since the liberation of the city of Kherson in November 2022 and the withdrawal of Russian troops from the right bank of the Dnieper, small detachments have regularly crossed the river in rubber boats to scout out enemy positions. “They come to map the banks and beaches, in particular to determine the location of Russian river mines,” explains Stéphane Audrand, international risk advisor and reserve officer. They most commonly operate at night to avoid detection by enemy drones, retreating after a few hours.
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But since June these incursions have increased and, most importantly, the Ukrainians have begun to hold positions on the ground. An initial fixation point was first sighted at the foot of the Antonivsky road bridge northwest of Kherson. Then other soldiers occupied the area of the railway bridge of the same name, which was a little further upriver. These infrastructures, which were partially destroyed during the Russian withdrawal, each time allowed the Ukrainians to find shelter from counterattacks, while the region consists mainly of swamps and sandy heaths and there is little opportunity to hide or seek protection.
The left bank of the Dnieper is poorly defended
Throughout the summer and since the beginning of autumn, Kiev’s troops advanced upriver and took positions as far as the town of Krynky, not far from the old Nova Kakhovka dam.
In total, several hundred soldiers would occupy a strip around fifty kilometers long and “three to eight kilometers” wide today, army spokeswoman Natalia Houmeniouk assured on November 19th. If these figures are confirmed, it would be the most important advance by the Ukrainian army since its failed attempt to break through Russian fortifications in the south of the country, particularly near the village of Robotyne.
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