Defence Forces of Ukraine's South: Russians want to capture bridgehead on Kherson Oblast's west bank

Russian troops probably intend to seize a bridgehead on one of the islands or on the right (west) bank of Kherson Oblast to transfer their weapons there and attack the city of Kherson.

Source: Vladyslav Voloshyn, spokesperson for the Defence Forces of Ukraine’s South, and Oleksandr Tolokonnikov, Head of the press office of Kherson Oblast Military Administration, on air with Radio Liberty

Quote from Voloshyn: "The enemy has now intensified similar assaults on Kozatskyi Island, and they have been trying to land on Velykyi Potomkinskyi Island for several days in a row. Before that, they tried to land on Zabych Island in the south. And two weeks before that, they were conducting such actions in the area of Antonivka bridges."

Details: Voloshyn explained that the Russians are "probing" the Ukrainian defence in this way. They are trying to find weak points and figure out where firing positions are located.

Voloshyn noted that from five to seven Russian assaults by small infantry groups occurred daily on the Prydniprovske front. However, he stressed that he wouldn’t call them attempts to launch a major assault or cross the Dnipro River.

Quote from Voloshyn: "This [large offensive or crossing the Dnipro River – ed.] cannot be done with such groups. It is done by much larger forces, but it is very difficult to hide larger forces with modern surveillance assets. In order to transfer armoured vehicles, to somehow get them to the other side of the Dnipro River, you need assets... To build a pontoon crossing, it must be a bridge of at least one kilometre. It is difficult to hide a large number of these vehicles carrying pontoons. To attack with only infantry on some boats or motorboats is, to put it bluntly, unserious. A few rounds of cluster munitions, and they [the infantry – ed.] are feeding the fishes."

More details:  Tolokonnikov said that even if the Russians decided to attack Kherson, it would be suicide.

Nevertheless, he noted that in case of a threat from the city and the district, they were ready to announce additional evacuation.

"As for any mandatory evacuation, we have everything ready: we have the logistics, we have the people, we have the places for temporary stay. If the military command tells us that the security situation does not allow people to live here, and we need to announce a mandatory evacuation, then, of course, we will carry out this mandatory evacuation under duress," Tolokonnikov concluded.

Background:

• Earlier, the Atesh underground resistance movement reported significant Russian casualties during an attempt to storm the right bank of Kherson Oblast.
• Taras Chmut, the head of the Come Back Alive Foundation, said in an interview with Ukrainska Pravda that the Russians won’t be able to capture Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Dnipro or Kharkiv right away, but they could take advantage of the chaos in the management of Ukrainian troops and achieve some local victories.

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