Day 638: Nov 23
Today, there are a lot of updates from the Kherson region.
Here, the scale of the operation has recently increased even more. Over the last months, Ukrainians have established at least four footholds on the eastern bank of the river, and while previously the Ukrainian command treated them as separate tactical units with their own objectives, now it has started to change, and all tactical units are operating to achieve the same big goal.
As mentioned last time, one of the main impediments to Ukrainian advancement was the Russian TOS-1 heavy thermobaric artillery systems. However, after Ukrainians deployed heavy assault drones to hunt them down, Russians practically lost their ability to use them due to the short range of the system. Recently released footage shows that Ukrainians improved their counterbattery fire against long-range artillery systems as well. Ukrainian drone operators detected a Grad system near Obryvka and hunted it down with kamikaze drones. In order to give Ukrainian drone operators even more freedom of movement, the Ukrainian special force received the task of suppressing the enemy air defense. As a result, one more air defense rocket launcher was destroyed near Chaplynka.
Russian forces started to complain that they were unable to hold onto their positions due to the lack of fire support because those artillery and mortar units that were still alive were constantly changing locations instead of helping, fearing counterbattery fire.
As the pressure was alleviated, Ukrainians ramped up their offensive operation and started attacking dense tree areas. And such attacks were recorded not only in front of Krynky but also near Kozachi Laheri, Pidstepne, Pischanivka, Poima, and Oleshky. One Russian soldier recorded a video saying that they were facing a lot of difficulties in repelling Ukrainian attacks and incurring significant losses.
As Ukrainians continued to move forward, they opened access to more logistical routes that are constantly used by Russian forces. Ukrainian drone operators released a video showing that the drones even managed to reach one of the Russian block posts.
Other videos show attacks on various vehicles. One of the biggest attacks happened when Ukrainians ambushed the Russian trucks and stole all ammunition.
Shortly after that, the spokeswoman for the Ukrainian Southern Operational Command Nataliya Humenyuk stated that Ukrainian forces were aiming to push Russian forces three to eight kilometers from the Dnipro River’s east bank. This caused panic inside the Russian media space and demoralized Russian soldiers even more. The Russian state media started claiming that Ukrainians were about to cut their logistics along the river.
As you remember, the Russian commander of the Kherson Group was recently fired for the catastrophic situation that he created. The new commander likely got worried in the light of his new appointment and made an immediate response.
Unfortunately for Russians, Ukrainians were waiting for this redeployment. The first strike happened a while ago on the Russian base in Skadovk. Skadovsk is located quite far behind the front line and serves as a base for reserves. The second strike happened in Chaplynka.
The building received substantial damage, and the forces inside were killed and wounded. The third strike happened on a farm, where Ukrainians reportedly used JDAM bombs to destroy Russian hangars used as barracks. The most recent strike happened in Nova Maiachka, where Ukrainians also used JDAM bombs to target Russian forces concentrations.
Overall, by suppressing the enemy artillery fire and electronic warfare systems effectively, Ukrainians created good conditions for conducting raids that slowly grew into something much bigger. Eventually, Ukrainians successfully created a huge dilemma for Russian forces – either they lose the eastern bank or redeploy forces from Tokmak and Avdiivka, undermining their operations.
Today, Ukrainians demonstrated that at the moment Russians do not have a solution because, as we saw, if Russians do not reinforce the area, Ukrainians are able to reach deep into the region and even ambush Russian columns, and if Russians start reinforcing the area, most of the troops are killed in strikes, as Ukrainian reconnaissance drones operate in Kherson freely and easily detect forces concentrations.
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.
