Day 622: Nov 08
Today, there is a lot of news from the south.
Here, Ukrainian forces have increased the intensity of their operations on the eastern bank of the river, widened their bridgehead, and started transporting heavy equipment across the river.
First of all, today, Russian sources reported that Ukrainians conducted the first fording of the river using heavy equipment.
Since Russians published the footage, the Ukrainian side did not try to deny these claims and confirmed that they indeed transported one armored fighting vehicle to Krynky.
Some analysts concluded that given the scale of the bridgehead, it is too early to transport vehicles in large numbers as there is not enough space for effective use. Moreover, Russian sources report that Ukrainians are constantly firing at Russians from tanks anyway.
The region’s topography gives Ukrainians a substantial tactical advantage because the western bank of the river is essentially one big hill. The whole eastern bank of the river, on the other hand, is virtually at zero elevation, so all Russian positions along the river, including the settlements, are under total direct fire control.
Such a setting allows Ukrainian infantry to operate under cover from tanks without the need to transport these tanks across the river.
But from today, Ukrainians will also use heavy equipment on the eastern bank. And this is not surprising because, over the last week, Ukrainians have increased their bridgehead substantially.
Despite continuous bombing, Ukrainians managed to hold the central part of Krynky. Russian soldiers complained about Russian aviation and said that they are just dropping multiple FAB-500 air bombs somewhere in the area where Ukrainians were previously seen and that the results of such bombardments are close to zero.
The Russian commanders still considered that the preparation for the assaults was completed and sent a group of Russian soldiers to clear an area in Krynky. Unfortunately for Russians, the operation went terribly wrong. The footage shows that the moment Russians entered the village, they realized that Ukrainians were present throughout the village, so Russians effectively put themselves into a pocket.
The Russian assault unit immediately tried to retreat back to the forest, but Ukrainians were already waiting for them there.
Since Ukrainian reconnaissance drone operators spotted Russians on the approach, Ukrainians sent a group of soldiers to close all retreat routes of Russians.
As a result, when the Russians got close to the forest, the whole assault unit was eliminated by a machine gun.
Ukrainian fighters released a lot of videos showing how they were gradually destroying Russian forces on the outskirts of the village, slowly pushing Russians further and further. One video shows how Ukrainians spotted how Russian soldiers delivered ammunition to the front with cars, and immediately destroyed all of them with kamikaze drones.
Russians were also seen using civilian trucks, which were also destroyed. After the Russians were pushed to the outskirts and started losing their grip on the village, they started using armored fighting vehicles. It took more than one drone, but the vehicle was chased down, and the crew destroyed.
Drone operators from Madiar’s Birds Battalion showed how they detected and destroyed one T-90M tank and one T-72 tank that opened fire at Ukrainian positions in Krynky.
The scale of the drone strikes rapidly increased, and Russian soldiers complained that there are so many Ukrainian drones in the sky that they have to spend 7 hours walking a four-kilometer distance. Russians started losing their personnel, howitzers, and other heavy equipment not only along the river but also near Chelburda, Radensk, Pishchane, and Obryvka.
Such a high level of control over the region allowed Ukrainians to conduct yet another amphibious operation, this time northwest of Pidstepne. Russian sources reported that Ukrainian fighters from the 35 Marine Brigade crossed the river, pushed Russians out of the first line of fortifications, and established a bridgehead. Simultaneously, Ukrainians intensified their attacks on Poima, Pischanivka, and Krynky to fix Russian troops.
The operation was successful, and Ukrainians managed to widen the new bridgehead and entrench right in between Pidstepne and Kozachi Laheri.
The Russian Ministry of Defense indirectly confirmed Ukrainian success by reporting ongoing combat operations in multiple places on the eastern bank of the river. The Russian High Command was obviously appalled at the failure of the commanders on this front to hold the line. As a result, the Russian General Staff fired the commander of the Kherson Group of Forces, Major General Makarevich.
The ongoing changes in the command structure of the front with the collapsing defense is very good news for Ukrainians.
The intensity of offensive operations in this region is only expected to increase in the coming days, posing Russians a dilemma: either they urgently reinforce this front at the expense of their offensive in Avdiivka or allow Ukrainians to advance in the Kherson region.
In our daily frontline report, we pair up with the military blogger Reporting from Ukraine to keep you informed about what is happening on the battlefield in the Russo-Ukrainian war.
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