The long-awaited counterattack of the Ukrainian forces began in the southern Kherson region, with the President, Volodymyr Zelensky“If they want to survive, it is time for the Russian army to flee,” he said.
A senior adviser to Zelensky said on Monday that Ukrainian forces had breached Russian defenses in several areas of the frontline near the city of Kherson.
In a video interview, Oleksiy Aristovich said Ukrainian forces had also bombed ferries in the Kherson region, which Moscow uses to supply Russian-occupied lands on the western bank of the Dnieper River.
In a speech on Monday night, Zelensky did not specifically address the counterattack, but said: “The occupiers should know: we will drive them to the border. To our border whose line has not changed.”
He said that those who surrendered would be dealt with under the Geneva Conventions, adding: “If they do not listen to me, they will deal with our defenders, who will not stop until they liberate everything concerning Ukraine. “
CNN, citing a Ukrainian military source, reported that Ukrainian forces recaptured four villages near the city of Kherson after breaking through the front line in three places, the main target being Kherson. The source was quoted as saying that the operation began with heavy bombardment on Russian and rear positions, forcing them to flee.
The Russian Defense Ministry said that Ukrainian forces tried to launch an attack in the Mykolaiv and Kherson regions, but incurred heavy losses, the RIA news agency reported. “The enemy’s offensive attempt failed miserably,” she added.
Battlefield reports cannot be independently verified.
Earlier on Monday, a spokeswoman for Ukraine’s Southern Command, Natalia Homenyuk, confirmed that a counterattack had begun in Kherson province after a video circulated online that allegedly showed a soldier from the Russian-run Donetsk Republic saying that Ukrainian forces had breached the border. First line of defense.
Homniuk told a news briefing that the operation was being carried out in “many directions” in the south, urging local residents to either leave urgently or seek shelter.
Hominok said the process needed “silence” because media attention could affect the results. Its claims cannot be independently proven.
Homenyuk said that the Russian forces were strong and that although morale was low among their ranks, “it was too early to relax.” Western and Ukrainian military intelligence observed a build-up of Russian troops and equipment this summer, indicating that Russia was preparing for its own offensive.
However, Ukraine’s presidential adviser, Mykhailo Podolyak, warned politicians, experts and opinion leaders not to speculate about the progress of the military operation before the Ukrainian Defense Ministry and the military issued official statements.
“I understand our desires and dreams … but war is not ‘content’. Let’s filter information and act professionally out of respect for our defenders,” he wrote on Telegram.
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