During the week, Russian voices raised the alarm about new Ukrainian advances across the Dnieper in southern Ukraine.
The river forms a clear front line since Ukraine fought back the Russian invasion forces last fall, and now several regime-loyal Russian military bloggers are reacting to information that Ukraine is creating a bridgehead and a kind of landing on the other side of the Dnieper.
Control over location
Ukrainian forces are said to have, among other things, taken control of the Ukrainian town of Pojma and are advancing towards a neighboring town, which is confirmed in various analyzes of geo-located imagery. Ukraine has not commented on the data.
Russia’s Ministry of Defense has for its part claimed that all “sabotage groups” have been beaten back.
– There have been losses, but it has not yielded any results, Putin said during a press conference, reports the Russian news site Agency.
Putin also called the offensive “expected”.
Large Ukrainian troop presence
Analyst at the American think tank Institute for the study of war, ISWassesses that Ukraine has not yet managed to create a foothold on the occupied side of the river.
On Thursday, however, it is written that the Ukrainian troop presence on the left bank of the river (in the east) is now greater than in previous assessments.
“ISW assesses that the current Ukrainian actions appear to be larger than previously observed tactical raids, and available geolocated material indicates that Ukrainian forces are maintaining a presence along the shoreline and near the Antonivsky railway bridge despite Russian counterattacks,” the think tank writes in its latest analysis.
21 helicopters destroyed
The Ukrainian side has achieved success on several fronts.
Ukraine is believed to have used US ATACMS robots in attacks on an airfield at Berdyansk and the city of Luhansk, in eastern Ukraine, for the first time overnight on Tuesday. The attack on the airfield in Luhansk is described by Russian voices as one of the largest against the Russian Air Force to date.
Geo-confirmed aerial photos shows that at least 21 Russian helicopters were destroyed in the robot attack.
– This is something Ukraine has wanted for a long time, says Joakim Paasikivi about the new addition to the Ukrainian arsenal.
At the same time, fierce battles are going on around it the town of Avdiivka, which has been described as an obstacle to Russia taking the entire Donetsk region.