Ukraine’s Center for Strategic Communication and Information Security tweeted Monday that its armed forces “breached the first line of defense of the occupiers near Kherson.” “Ukraine has a real chance to take back its occupied territories, especially considering the very successful use of Western weapons by the Ukrainian army,” he added. The counter-offensive appeared to begin early on Monday, with long-range strikes on Russian command centers and bridges, cutting off the supply of weapons and reinforcements to Russian forces in Kherson from occupied Crimea. There were unconfirmed reports that the Ukrainian armed forces launched the initial attacks with tanks, artillery and helicopters to break through the first line of defense near Kherson.
Ukrainian forces “destroy the enemy”
In a message on the Telegram messaging app, Andriy Yerkmak, the Ukrainian president’s chief of staff, said Kiev’s armed forces were “destroying the enemy” as “Kherson was in front”. Mykhailo Podolyak, a senior aide to Volodymyr Zelensky, added: “The only possible option for negotiations with Russia is being conducted by a special Ukrainian delegation in the south and other directions of the front line. “The ‘negotiations’ are going well. We expect new ‘compromises’ in the form of ‘goodwill gestures.’ As Ukrainian troops made apparent gains towards Nova Kakhovka, a town east of Kherson, residents with Russian SIM cards were warned on Monday to evacuate the area by Kremlin-based officials. “Evacuation has been announced today during the day, the siren has been sounding most of the day. People have left their jobs, are in bomb shelters,” said Vladimir Leontiev, its puppet commander, as air raid sirens and explosions rang out across the city. Ukraine regularly targets the bridge in Nova Kakhovka, the second largest city in the Kherson region and is vital for delivering supplies to Russian forces. The group of Ukrainian soldiers Kakhovka claimed to have forced the 109th regiment of the so-called people’s militia of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic from their defensive positions. Russian paratroopers who were said to have been sent to support them also fled the battlefield. “In the Kherson region, Russian troops have been withdrawn from their positions, paratroopers are leaving the battlefield,” the Kakhovka Troops Operational Group said in a Facebook post on Monday.
