Russian presence in the south is complicated by Ukrainian attacks on supply lines, officials say
A picture taken on July 21, 2022 shows craters on Kherson’s Antonovsky (Antonivskiy) Bridge, which crosses the Dnipro River, caused by a Ukrainian missile attack amid ongoing Russian military action in Ukraine. (Photo by STRINGER/AFP via Getty Images)
Ukrainian officials said Russia’s presence in the southern Kherson region and parts of Zaporizhia is increasingly weak as supply lines are under daily attack from long-range Ukrainian systems, many of which are supplied by allies.
Ivan Fedorov, mayor of the occupied city of Melitopol, said the destruction of a railway bridge southwest of the city over the weekend further complicated Russian supply routes.
Fedorov explained on Ukrainian television that “the enemy uses Melitopol as a logistics center for the transportation and handling of ammunition and heavy weapons. The enemy transports most of the ammunition by rail. A railway bridge was built on the night of August 13-14 The enemy cannot yet restore it; the rubble is dismantled.
Fedorov, who is not in Melitopol, also said: “We see the migration of military personnel from Kherson to Melitopol. Military personnel are taking their families out of Melitopol.”
He said the Russians had tightened security in Melitopol, located in the Zaporizhia region, by controlling the local population. “The mass filtering of local civilians continues in Melitopol, in people’s homes, on the streets,” he said.
Fedorov added that the Russian Security Service (FSB), Russian reserve guards and Chechen special forces were present in Melitopol.
He said up to 6,000 people were waiting to be evacuated.
“People wait five to seven days, spend the night on the side of the road. It’s faster to drive through Crimea, people also use this route,” he said.
Meanwhile, Serhii Khlan, adviser to the head of Kherson’s civilian military administration, told Ukrainian television on Monday that continued attacks by Ukrainian forces on bridges across the Dnipro River have caused serious difficulties for Russian forces.
“The impossibility of delivering (the Russians) ammunition makes us say that if they cannot solve the issue of crossing the right bank of the Dnieper in the next two weeks, they will have no choice but to abandon their positions. “
A significant part of the Russian occupying force is located on the right (northern) bank of the Dnipro, in the city of Kherson and further upstream.
Khlan claimed the Russians had moved their command center to the south bank of the Dnieper.
As the Einsatzkommando Süd announced on Sunday, the main road link, the Antonivskyj Bridge, had been attacked again. A video on social media showed a series of explosions at one end of the bridge connecting southern Kherson with the region’s capital.
Khlan said Ukrainian civilians continue to leave Kherson, although travel has become more difficult.
He claimed that 40% of Ukrainians trying to pass through the only official transit point to the Ukrainian-controlled area (at Vasylivka) were residents of the Kherson region. “Every day between 700 and 2,000 people leave the occupied territories,” he said.