Ukrainian forces have made the biggest advance on the southern front since the start of the war by breaking through Russian defense lines. Kiyv forces have advanced rapidly since this weekend, retaking scores of villages along the strategic Dnieper River and threatening Russian troops' supply lines.
Ukrainian forces in the south destroyed 31 Russian tanks and a multiple missile launcher, the army's southern operational command said in an overnight update, without providing details of where the fighting took place. Ukraine has made significant progress in two of the four Russian-occupied regions that Moscow annexed last week after what it called "referendums," votes that were denounced by kyiv and Western governments as illegal and coercive.
In a sign that Ukraine is gaining momentum on the eastern front, Reuters saw columns of Ukrainian military vehicles heading Monday to reinforce the Liman rail hub, retaken over the weekend, and a foothold for pressure in the region. of the Donbass. In this town, various recordings show the bodies of dozens of Russian soldiers on the side of a road and a column of bombed-out vehicles that was probably part of an escape convoy.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said the Ukrainian army had recaptured towns in several areas, but as usual he did not give specific details. "New population centers have been liberated in various regions. Heavy fighting is taking place on various sectors of the front," Zelensky said in a video address.
Serhi Gaidai, the governor of Lugansk - one of the two regions that make up Donbass - said Russian forces had seized a psychiatric hospital in the city of Svatovo, a target on the way to recapturing the cities of Lisichansk and Severodonetsk. "There is a whole network of underground rooms in the building and they have taken up defensive positions," he told Ukrainian television.
In the south, Ukrainian troops have recaptured the town of Dudchany, situated along the western bank of the Dnieper River, which bisects the country, Vladimir Saldo, the Russian-appointed leader in the occupied parts of the country, told Russian state television. Ukrainian province of Kherson. "There are settlements that are occupied by Ukrainian forces," Saldo said.
Dudchany is about 30 kilometers south of where the front line was before Monday's advance, marking the fastest advance of the war in the south. Russian forces had entrenched themselves in heavily reinforced positions along a front line that had been virtually static since the first weeks of the invasion.
Soldiers from Ukraine's 128th Mountain Assault Brigade raised the blue and yellow national flag in Myrolyubivka, a village located between the old front and Dinéper, according to a video released by the Defense Ministry. Serhiy Khlan, a member of the Kherson regional council, listed four other villages recaptured or in which Ukrainian troops had been photographed. "It means that our armed forces are moving strongly along the banks of the Dnieper, closer to Berislav," he said.
Russian missiles hit the northeastern city of Kharkiv killing a woman, its governor said in a message service, while Ukraine's General Staff said Moscow is reinforcing its troops with troops from Siberia and Syria.
The drive south is targeting the supply lines of up to 25,000 Russian troops on the west bank of the Dnieper. Ukraine has already destroyed major bridges over the river, forcing Russian forces to use makeshift crossings.
A substantial advance downstream could cut them off entirely. "The fact that we have broken through the front means that ... the Russian army has already lost the ability to attack, and today or tomorrow it could lose the ability to defend," said Oleh Zhdanov, a military analyst from Kyiv.
Ukraine appears to be close to achieving several of its battlefield objectives, giving it "a much better defensive position to weather what is likely to be a decline in fighting over the winter," said Celeste Wallander, a senior Pentagon official. .
Just hours after a concert in Moscow's Red Square on Friday, in which Russian President Vladimir Putin proclaimed Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhia provinces as Russian territory forever, Ukraine recaptured Lima, Russia's main stronghold. in the north of Donetsk province.
The bad run of the Russian army has caused a change of mood in the state media, usually aligned with the vision of the conflict that is spread from the Kremlin. Some talk shows have acknowledged the setbacks the military is experiencing and have begun looking for scapegoats. "For a certain time, things will not be easy for us. We should not expect good news at this time," said Vladimir Solovyov, a well-known presenter on state television.
The commander of Russia's western military district, which borders Ukraine, has lost his post, Russian media reported on Monday, the latest in a series of senior officials who have been fired following the defeats.
