Frontline report: Ukrainian marines increase offensive in Kherson Oblast

Day 650: Dec 05

Today, there are a lot of updates from the Kherson region.

Here, the most intense clashes are taking place in the forest south of Krynky. Russian sources reported that the forest area is characterized by constant meeting engagements because both sides are actively trying to push each other out.

Many Russian sources admitted that Ukrainians managed to secure new gains south of hothouses, although they tried to dismiss them as temporary or mild. Some analysis claimed that this is a direct result of the recent regrouping under the veil of fog and rain. Moreover, Russian soldiers complained that even after the fog dissipated, Ukrainian forces continued attempts to transfer reinforcements and supplies to positions on the left bank.

In order to undermine Ukrainian offensive capabilities in the region, Russian forces doubled down on airstrikes with the goal of destroying Ukrainian supplies of ammunition and equipment, as well as manpower.

Due to the density of Ukrainian air defense, Russian forces stopped relying on attack helicopters, such as Ka-52 and Mi-24. Ukrainian Tavriisk Group of Forces Spokesman Oleksandr Shtupun stated that Ukrainian forces shoot them down as soon as they enter the range. Moreover, Shtupun stated that due to Ukrainian air defense capability, Russians find it risky to even get within 40-kilometer reach to launch FAB glide bombs, prompting Russians to use KAB glide bombs, which can be launched from a safer distance. The problem with KAB bombs is that they are even less accurate.

Today, Russian analysts posted and analyzed complaints of the Russian soldiers who are operating in Krynky. Russian soldiers reported that they intercepted a Ukrainian drone and used the tape to find out the location of the Ukrainian drone operators. They said that after many hurdles, they finally managed to communicate the coordinates to the Russian Air Force, however, the launched bomb missed the target.

They tried to reorder the strike, but the Russian Air Force replied that the strike had been successful. It seems like if the bomb explodes, the strike is marked as successful. As a result, Ukrainian drone operators escaped.

Interestingly, Ukrainian forces recently posted a video featuring the same operation but against Russian drone operators. The operation was conducted by the famous Madiar’s Birds Detachment. Madiar said that his electronic warfare group successfully intercepted a Russian drone and immediately analyzed the footage to identify the location and, once identified, sent it to the reconnaissance drone operators for verification. A Ukrainian drone pilot noticed an unusual antenna and a cable that was leading directly to the house nearby.

The house turned out to have a few windows that were also very small, so instead of attacking them with kamikaze drones, Ukrainians ordered a HIMARS strike. A few minutes later, the house was completely eliminated, together with all Russian drone operators.

And this is extremely important because as Russian artillery and aviation are unresponsive and inaccurate, Russian soldiers on the contact line are mostly relying on the help from drone crews.

If a reconnaissance team loses all drones, they are forced to conduct reconnaissance by foot. Russian drone operators understand that the chances of survival would not be very high in this case, which is why they minimize the use of drones, which in turn gives more freedom of movement for Ukrainians.

Moreover, today, the Ukrainian military known by his call sign, Madiar, posted a video reporting that they crowdfunded 180 new boats for the marines. He said that the marines had already received 56 boats and showed the arrival of the new batch of 30 news boats that were immediately transported to respective detachments. Even though Ukrainians have some specialized boats equipped with machine guns, they are less mobile and easier to spot compared to conventional small boats, and since Ukrainians have established virtually full control over the river delta, there is no one to shoot from these machine guns as Ukrainians are on both sides of the river. Under such conditions, using smaller but more mobile boats that Ukrainian people helped to purchase for the fighters is much more convenient. So, the new batch of boats means that Ukrainians will continue to push and expand the bridgehead, and we will receive more news from this region very soon.

In our daily frontline report, we pair up with the military blogger Reporting from Ukraine to inform you about what is happening on the battlefield in the Russo-Ukrainian war.

The post Frontline report: Ukrainian marines increase offensive in Kherson Oblast appeared first on Euromaidan Press.