Ukrainian troops have breached Russian defenses in several front-line areas near the city of Kherson, a senior adviser to Zelensky claimed on Monday. Oleksiy Arestovych said in a video interview that Ukrainian forces are also shelling ferries in the Kherson region that Moscow uses to supply Russian-occupied territories on the west bank of the Dnieper River. In a speech on Monday night, Zelensky did not specifically mention the counterattack, but said: “The occupiers must know: we will chase them to the border. On our borders, the line of which has not changed.” Those who surrendered would be treated according to the Geneva Conventions, he said, adding: “If they don’t listen to me, they will face our defenders, who will not stop until they liberate everything that belongs to Ukraine.” Ukrainian troops recaptured four villages near the city of Kherson after breaking the front line in three places, CNN reported, citing a Ukrainian military source, with Kherson as the main “target”. The operation began with heavy shelling of Russian positions and the rear, forcing them to flee, the source said. The Russian Defense Ministry said Ukrainian troops attempted an offensive in the Mykolayiv and Kherson regions but suffered significant losses, the RIA news agency reported. “The enemy’s offensive attempt failed miserably,” he said. Reports of the battlefield could not be independently verified. Earlier on Monday, a spokeswoman for Ukraine’s southern command, Nataliya Humenyuk, confirmed that the counterattack had begun in Kherson province after a video circulated online purportedly showing a soldier from Russia’s self-proclaimed Donetsk republic saying that Ukrainian forces had broken through the first line of defense. The operation was being carried out in “multiple directions” in the south, Humeniuk said in a briefing, and urged residents in the area to either leave immediately or seek shelter. Humeniuk said the operation needed “silence” as media attention could affect results. Her claims could not be independently verified. Khomeiniuk said Russian forces were strong and that although morale was low in their ranks, “it was too early to relax.” Western and Ukrainian military intelligence has noted a build-up of Russian troops and equipment this summer, suggesting Russia was preparing its own offensive. But Ukraine’s presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak warned politicians, experts and opinion leaders against speculating on the progress of a military operation before Ukraine’s Defense Ministry and military issue official statements. “I understand our wishes and dreams… But war is not a ‘wish’. Let’s filter the information and work professionally out of respect for our defenders,” he wrote on Telegram.
