Ukraine claims significant advance near Dnieper River

Europe 1 with AFP 14:51 p.m., November 19, 2023

Ukraine said on Sunday it had pushed the Russian army "3 to 8 km" deep into the left bank of the Dnieper River occupied by Moscow's army, the first estimate of the advance of Kyiv's troops in the area after months of disappointing counteroffensive. "Preliminary figures vary from 3 to 8 km, depending on the specificities, geography and topography of the left bank," army spokeswoman Natalia Gumenyuk told Ukrainian television. If this advance is confirmed, it would be the biggest push by the Ukrainian army against the Russians in several months.

However, Gumenyuk did not say whether Ukrainian forces were in complete control of this area of the southern Kherson region or whether the Russian army had withdrawn from it in the face of assaults by Kyiv's troops. "The enemy continues its artillery fire on the right bank," she said, estimating the number of Russian troops in the area at "several tens of thousands". AFP was unable to confirm all these claims.

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Launched last June, the long-awaited counteroffensive by Kyiv and its Western allies has failed, allowing the Ukrainian army to retake only a handful of villages in the south and east. But on Friday, Kyiv said it had taken up positions on the left bank of the Dnieper, while reporting "heavy fighting" and "strong resistance" from Russia. Moscow, for its part, has not mentioned the Ukrainian beachheads so far.

Before that, the last major success claimed by Ukraine in its counteroffensive was the recapture of the village of Robotyne in August, in the southern Zaporizhzhia region. Kyiv had hoped that this reconquest would allow it to break through the Russian lines and liberate the occupied areas, but the Ukrainian army did not succeed, in the face of Russian firepower and strong defense lines. Taking positions deep on the left bank of the Dnieper could allow for a larger assault in the south. But for that to happen, Ukraine must successfully deploy its army in this hard-to-access, sandy and swampy area.

Kiev and Moscow targeted

At the same time, explosive drone attacks, signature of the war in Ukraine, have multiplied in recent days. On the night of Saturday to Sunday, Kiev and Moscow were targeted by enemy attacks by these small craft, which were, however, largely intercepted by anti-aircraft defenses and did not cause any casualties, according to the respective authorities.

According to the Russian Defense Ministry's account, a drone "was destroyed by air defense equipment (...) over the territory of the urban district of Bogorodskiy, in the Moscow region". Ukrainian drone attacks targeting Moscow were particularly frequent in the spring, ahead of and at the start of Kyiv's counteroffensive that began in June, but they have become very rare in recent weeks.

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For its part, Kyiv was targeted, for the second night in a row, by a barrage of explosive drones launched by the Russian army, of Iranian "Shahed" manufacture, according to the local military authorities, who reported "an intensification" of attacks on the Ukrainian capital. In total, "15 of the 20 enemy drones were destroyed," the Ukrainian General Staff said in a statement.

The deputy head of the presidential administration, Oleksiy Kuleba, said on Telegram that Kyiv was "increasing the number of mobile units" to counter these Russian attacks and "strengthen the protection of energy infrastructure".

In a statement, the Russian Defense Ministry said it had hit a fuel depot in the central Kirovograd region and an ammunition warehouse near Kyiv. The day before, the Ukrainian Air Force claimed to have shot down 29 of the 38 "Shahed" drones launched by Russian forces across the territory in the largest nighttime drone attack since late September.

Anticipating new strikes on energy sites, Volodymyr Zelensky had on Saturday called on his army to be "100% effective, despite all the difficulties, despite the fatigue". On Sunday, Russian shelling in the southern city of Kherson also wounded five people, including a three-year-old girl, according to Interior Minister Igor Klymenko.