HERSON The war situation is currently harsh for Ukrainians. The Russians take advantage of Ukraine’s weak ammunition situation and seize new territories almost every day. In addition, Ukrainian fortifications west of Avdijivka have been surprisingly weak, and that has helped Russia’s advance in the direction of Donetsk.
However, there is one exception on Ukraine’s approximately one thousand kilometer long front line, where Ukraine continues offensive operations against all odds. It is a small strip on the eastern bank of the Dnipro River in the Kherson region.
Not much is known about the battles in the area, but there the Ukrainians have sometimes even managed to expand the territory they control.
What explains the strange war map of Ukraine? How is it possible that the Russians are now advancing on all other fronts, but are unable to evict the Ukrainians from a narrow strip?
We interviewed two Ukrainian soldiers fighting there via video call.
– Freeing up my territory is the biggest motivator for me, he says Iryna25.
Iryna is a sniper. He is a police officer by civilian profession. He had to flee when the Russians occupied Kherson, because as a policeman he would have suffered badly in the hands of the Russians.
– I’m not going to run away anymore, Iryna says.
Iryna’s closest comrade in arms is Dasha36. He is also from the Kherson region.
Neither of them appears in the story with their real names for security reasons.
They can’t wait to be ordered to advance across the Dnipro River.
– We always like to go there, says Dasha.
Dasha and her husband were captured by the Russians when Kherson was under the control of the Russians for a short time earlier in the war. Residents of their own village exposed the family as supporters of Ukraine to the occupiers.
According to Dasha, imprisonment was a harsh experience, especially for her husband. Now the man takes care of the couple’s three children while Dasha frees Kherson.
Dasha and Iryna got to know each other in the army.
Both have carried out several operations on opposite shores. During the interview, the friends are on combat duty, but not on the opposite shore.
The soldiers say that the most dangerous stage in operations on the opposite bank is crossing the river. It is done on small boats that can accommodate four people at a time.
– The crossing takes half an hour, says Dasha.
Those minutes are painful for the fighters. Danger is caused by the enemy’s drones and artillery, but also by the strongly flowing river.
– Boats can capsize, says Iryna. He says that at worst he saw 17 enemy drones flying at the same time. Then you can only hope for the best.
It is precisely in the direction of the Dnipro River that drones are of great importance. They are not only killing, but they are also used to deliver food and water to the Ukrainian troops across the river.
But Russians also know how to use airplanes. The Ukrainian troops were tortured for a long time by the Russian “Moisei” ie A drone operator named Moses. The Ukrainian military said it eliminated him in January. The fact that, according to Ukraine, the situation in the region became easier after that also speaks of the significant role of drone pilots.
– The Ukrainians managed to get one drone ace out of the day. It is difficult to estimate how much impact this will have, but overall the Ukrainians have been successful in drone warfare in the region, says Emil Kastehelmi.
Kastehelmi, who follows the war in Ukraine, works at the Black Bird Group, an open source intelligence group. He has familiarized himself with the battles in the river area with the help of satellite images and made a precise analysis of the area based on them out of control in January.
According to Kastehelmi, the reason for Ukraine’s success on this small front block is the Russians’ bullying.
– The Russians are incapable of solving the situation on a tactical level. They lack coordination, says Kastehelmi.
According to Kastehelmi, Ukraine has committed a maximum of a few companies’ worth of people to the narrow lane, which is enough to manage the main bridge station. One company has 80-250 soldiers, depending on the country.
According to Kastehelmi, the battle in the river area is special.
– At the moment it appears as an operation with no future, Kastehelmi shakes.
Although Ukraine has enough soldiers to maintain a small area, the force is far too small to launch a larger counterattack in the area. This contributes to a situation where neither is capable of larger movements.
From a military point of view, Ukraine has been able to calculate, according to Kastehelmi, that the troops are able to wear down the Russians in the region so much that it makes sense to continue the operation. He does not believe that Ukraine would try to create the conditions for a larger landing operation in the future by controlling the region.
– It is very difficult to see where the Ukrainians could gather enough strength in the area to be able to defeat the Russian forces and make breakthroughs, says Kastehelmi.
Kastehelmi claims that Ukraine continues the operation mostly for political reasons, i.e. to show that it is also capable of offensive operations.
Ukrainian soldiers admit that the situation is not easy.
– They shoot at us with tanks and artillery, but we can only respond with machine guns and rifles. In this respect, they have an advantage, says Iryna.
There is one more factor that affects the situation in the region significantly and which neither side can do anything about, namely the terrain.
The areas controlled by Ukraine are mostly swamps, and heavier equipment such as tanks cannot move there. It is both an advantage and a disadvantage for Ukraine: the terrain prevents Russian vehicles from advancing all the way to the riverbank, but on the other hand, Ukraine is unable to attack significantly further into harder ground without heavy equipment.
How will progress succeed if the Ukrainians are unable to bring heavy vehicles into the region?
– Yes, we will bring them across the river. We are Ukrainians, and Ukrainians always come up with something, says Dasha.
For the Russians, the situation is a thorn in their flesh. This is evidenced, among other things, by the fact that the Russian Minister of Defense Shoigu informed Putin about Russia that emptied Krynky of Ukrainians in February. The video images do not support the claims, and Ukraine announced for itself having expanded its bridgehead station within the precincts of In the beginning of March.
According to Kastehelmi, it is difficult to predict the continuation of the operation.
– The situation in the region is unclear in places. In part of the village, neither seems to have continuous control. Based on the video footage, the Russians appear to be ambushed from time to time.
Iryna and Dasha say that they are now an inseparable couple and always complete tasks together.
– We haven’t killed each other yet, Iryna says and laughs.
Then the video freezes. The commander calls after and says that the Starlink connection has been lost. Iryna and Dasha go to fight.