KYIV: The Ukrainian army claimed on Sunday that it has pushed Russian forces back “three to eight kilometres” from the banks of Dnipro river, which if confirmed would be the first meaningful advance by Kyiv’s forces months into a disappointing counteroffensive.

Ukrainian and Russian forces have been entrenched on opposite sides of the vast waterway in the southern Kherson region for more than a year, after Russia withdrew its troops from the western bank last November.

Ukraine has staged multiple attempts to cross and hold positions on the Russian-controlled side — with officials in Kyiv finally reporting a “successful” breakthrough last week.

“Preliminary figures vary from three to eight kilometres, depending on the specifics, geography and landscape of the left bank,” army spokeswoman Natalia Gumenyuk told Ukrainian television on Sunday when asked how much progress Kyiv had made.

Both capitals targeted as drone attacks intensify

Drone attacks

A Russian artillery attack on the city of Kherson injured five people on Sunday, including a three-year-old child, Interior Minister Igor Klymenko said.

Russia has issued a number of statements regarding its own operations around the Dnipro.

The Russian defence ministry has rejected claims that Ukraine has gained a foothold, but a Russian-installed official in the occupied Kherson region conceded that Ukraine was holding positions in at least one village on the river’s eastern shores.

Moscow did not comment on the situation on the eastern bank in a daily military briefing on Sunday.

Meanwhile, drone attacks, a defining characteristic of the war, have intensified this week.

Both of the capitals, Kyiv and Moscow, were targeted on Saturday night, though both sides claimed to have intercepted most of the drones and no victims were reported.

After a spate of attacks earlier this year, Ukrainian drones have rarely targeted the Russian capital in recent months.

Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin said a drone was shot down outside the capital in the early hours of Sunday morning.

Published in Dawn, November 20th, 2023