Ukrainian forces establish positions on eastern bank of Dnipro in Kherson Oblast

Ukrainian forces have established positions in the east bank of Dnipro in Kherson Oblast, the Institute for the Study of War has reported as of 22 April 2023, referring to new geolocated footage and Russian sources. The scale of Ukrainian presence on the east bank of Dnipro remains unclear, but Ukrainian troops established stable supply lines to these positions.

"Geolocated footage published by a Russian milblogger on April 22 shows that Ukrainian forces have established positions on the Dnipro River bank north of Oleshky (7km southwest of Kherson City) and advanced up to the northern outskirts of the settlement on the E97 highway, as well as west of Dachi (10km south of Kherson City)," ISW reports.

Russian military bloggers claimed that Ukrainian forces have maintained positions in the east bank of Kherson Oblast for weeks, established stable supply lines to these positions, and regularly conducted sorties in the area, ISW writes.

These reports were indirectly confirmed by the Ukrainian spokesman of the Defense and Security Forces of the South Nataliya Humeniuk, who said on the TV air that the Russian military is trying to cover itself with the local population of the eastern bank of the Kherson region to make a "human shield" for itself "on the new lines of defense."

Humeniuk also said, "maneuvers of the Russian army take place all the time. They try to pull back more powerful and prepared forces as far as possible. This is a classic, which we also observed on the right bank. The tactics of their actions are quite cyclical, they are repeated. As a rule, they replenish the front edge with less valuable ones, and the elite units, which are ready to hold the defense, take a position behind. Their logic is clear to us. We know how to prepare our actions." She also added that "the conditions of a military operation require informational silence until it is safe enough for our military. Therefore, we must be patient. Everyone is waiting for good news, and they will be, but this news should be good for as many of our military as possible."

As was reported by Ukraine's National Resistance Center, which is coordinating partisan movement, the Russians demand that the residents of the eastern bank of the Kherson region, who live along the Dnipro river, leave the region. Thus, in Nova Kakhovka and in the village of Dnipriany, the occupiers informed local residents that those who live on the first shoreline of the Dnipro should leave their homes immediately. At the same time, the enemy places its equipment in the residential areas of these settlements.