Ukraine claims to have gained in relation to Russian positions on the eastern bank of the Dnieper
Ukraine has shot down nine of 10 drones over several regions and is gaining a “foothold on several footholds” on the Dnieper River.
Ukraine’s armed forces say they have made significant progress thanks to a series of attacks on the Russian-occupied eastern bank of the Dnieper River.
In a statement posted on social media Friday, the Marine Corps said it had “gained a foothold on several bridgeheads” of the Dnieper River, near the key southern city of Kherson.
The waterway is the de facto front line in southern Ukraine. However, this week Russia admitted for the first time that Ukrainian forces had regained some territory on the opposite bank.
“The Ukrainian Defense Forces conducted a series of successful operations on the left bank of the Dnieper along the Kherson Front,” the marines said, and “managed to gain a foothold on several bridgeheads.”
Since Moscow withdrew from the western part of Kherson Oblast last November, Russian and Ukrainian forces have become entrenched on opposite sides of the Dnieper.
A Russian official in charge of occupied Kherson admitted this week that some Ukrainian soldiers were “locked down” in Krynki, a small village on the eastern bank of the Dnieper River, and were facing a “fiery hell” from Russian artillery, missiles and drones.
Also on Friday, the Ukrainian Air Force said it had repelled another night of attacks.
It said it shot down nine of 10 Russian drones overnight over the southern regions of Mykolaiv and Odessa, as well as near Zhytomyr in the center and Khmelnytsky Oblast in the west of the country.
Russia has stepped up attacks on Ukraine’s grain infrastructure, including the main port of Odessa, since July, when Moscow withdrew from the Black Sea Grain Initiative; a wartime agreement that enabled Ukrainian exports to reach African countries at risk of famine.
The Air Force said in a statement that Russian forces also fired several C-300 missiles during a night attack in the eastern Donetsk region, near the front line.
