Ukraine Says A New Southern Offensive Is Getting Through Russian Defences

Ukraine said it broke through enemy lines in several places near the southern city of Kherson as part of a new campaign to retake territory. However, Moscow said Kyiv’s counter-offensive had failed as Russia shelled the port city of Mykolaiv.

The move by Kyiv came after a war that has killed thousands, displaced millions, destroyed cities, caused a global energy and food crisis, and led to economic sanctions that have never been seen before.

Oleksiy Arestovych, a top adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said, “It should be noted that the (Russian) defences were broken through in a few hours today.”

He also said that Ukrainian forces were firing on the ferries that Moscow uses to bring supplies to a pocket of Russian-controlled land on the west bank of the Dnipro River in the Kherson region.

Russia’s defence ministry said earlier on Monday that Ukrainian troops tried to attack in the Mykolaiv and Kherson regions but lost a lot of people.

It said that the enemy’s attempt to attack failed terribly.

But a barrage of rockets fired by Ukraine left the Russian-occupied town of Nova Kakhovka without water or electricity.

Even though Russia bombarded Mykolaiv many times during the war, it stayed in Ukrainian hands. On Monday, city officials and witnesses said that new Russian shelling killed at least two people, hurt about 24 others, and destroyed homes.

A Reuters reporter said that a strike that killed one woman hit a family home right next to a school.

Olexandr Shulga, the owner of the property, said he had lived there his whole life and that his wife died when she was buried under debris.

The conflict, which was the biggest attack on a European state since 1945, had mostly turned into a war of attrition, mostly in the south and east, with artillery bombardments and air strikes. Early on, Russia took over large parts of the south.

On Monday, Ukraine’s southern command said that its troops had begun offensive actions in several places in the south, including the Kherson region, which is north of the part of the Crimean peninsula that Russia has taken over.

In the past week, Ukraine attacked more than 10 sites and “unquestionably weakened the enemy,” according to a spokeswoman who wouldn’t say more about the offensive because Russian forces in the south were still “quite powerful.”

Nuclear safety mission

Ukraine said it broke through enemy lines in several places near the southern city of Kherson as part of a new campaign to retake territory. However, Moscow said Kyiv’s counter-offensive had failed as Russia shelled the port city of Mykolaiv.

The move by Kyiv came after a war that has killed thousands, displaced millions, destroyed cities, caused a global energy and food crisis, and led to economic sanctions that have never been seen before.

Oleksiy Arestovych, a top adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said, “It should be noted that the (Russian) defences were broken through in a few hours today.”

He also said that Ukrainian forces were firing on the ferries that Moscow uses to bring supplies to a pocket of Russian-controlled land on the west bank of the Dnipro River in the Kherson region.

Russia’s defence ministry said earlier on Monday that Ukrainian troops tried to attack in the Mykolaiv and Kherson regions but lost a lot of people.

It said that the enemy’s attempt to attack failed terribly.

But a barrage of rockets fired by Ukraine left the Russian-occupied town of Nova Kakhovka without water or electricity, according to the RIA news agency.

The reports from the battlefield could not be checked by Reuters on their own.

Even though Russia bombarded Mykolaiv many times during the war, it stayed in Ukrainian hands. On Monday, city officials and witnesses said that new Russian shelling killed at least two people, hurt about 24 others, and destroyed homes.

A Reuters reporter said that a strike that killed one woman hit a family home right next to a school.

Olexandr Shulga, the owner of the property, said he had lived there his whole life and that his wife died when she was buried under debris.

The conflict, which was the biggest attack on a European state since 1945, had mostly turned into a war of attrition, mostly in the south and east, with artillery bombardments and air strikes. Early on, Russia took over large parts of the south.

On Monday, Ukraine’s southern command said that its troops had begun offensive actions in several places in the south, including the Kherson region, which is north of the part of the Crimean peninsula that Russia has taken over.

In the past week, Ukraine attacked more than 10 sites and “unquestionably weakened the enemy,” according to a spokeswoman who wouldn’t say more about the offensive because Russian forces in the south were still “quite powerful.”