Ukraine Seeks to Squeeze Russian Troops as It Girds for Battle for Kherson; Ukraine says it can hit ‘almost all’ Russian supply lines in occupied south; Armed Forces of Ukraine repulse assaults on Bakhmut front; 98% of Ukrainians are confident of victory in the war – survey, LIVE UPDATES and MORE

By admin On Aug 13, 2022

Ukraine Seeks to Squeeze Russian Troops as It Girds for Battle for Kherson:

Kyiv’s threats of attack have drawn invading forces to the regional capital, where Ukrainian units are avoiding Moscow’s ‘assault fist’:

Ukrainian forces are preparing for a battle to free the southern city of Kherson from Russian occupiers, and aim to do it on their own terms.

The strategy holds much risk but, if successful, would improve Kyiv’s ability to defend its country, win foreign support and potentially negotiate better terms of an eventual peace deal.

Ukraine is building forces outside Kherson, even as larger battles continue in the eastern region of Donbas, under a strategy that suggests growing confidence. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has for weeks repeatedly outlined his goal of retaking Kherson, and Ukrainian troops have openly targeted local bridges and other infrastructure the Russians are using to supply and reinforce the area.

Russia has responded by strengthening its presence in and around Kherson, potentially readying for large-scale battles. It has moved troops from Donbas, where Moscow gained territory over recent months using artillery-led thrusts often referred to as an “assault fist” to punch through defenses.

Around Kherson, Ukraine won’t engage Russian forces head-on, said Mykhailo Podolyak, a Ukrainian presidential adviser. Instead, Kyiv’s forces are chipping away at Russian might in the region, he said, inflicting “a thousand bee stings.”

“You grind down and destroy enemy personnel and vehicles,” Mr. Podolyak said. “You gradually squeeze them out.”

Dislodging Russian forces from Kherson poses a monumental challenge for Ukraine. Military analysts say that to eject troops from an established position, such as Russia’s in Kherson, attackers generally need at least three times as many forces as the defenders, and the ratio can reach five-to-one for urban warfare.

The task is even harder if Ukraine wants to avoid destroying Kherson. —>READ MORE HERE

Ukraine says it can hit ‘almost all’ Russian supply lines in occupied south:

Ukraine’s military said its artillery hit a Russian ammunition depot near a key bridge in the south on Friday (Aug 12) and added it now had the ability to strike nearly all of Moscow’s supply lines in the occupied region.

The military said the attack killed 11 Russian soldiers in the depot in the village of Vesele, about 130km down the vast Dnipro river from the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.

There was no immediate comment from Russian authorities on the report of the attack in Kherson province, or the purported reach of Ukraine’s firepower.

Reuters could not confirm the reports independently.

Natalia Humeniuk, spokesman for Ukraine’s southern military command, said Ukraine has nearly all of Russia’s southern supply routes under “fire control,” meaning that Ukraine is able to hit them with ranged weapons at will.

“Our forces are controlling the situation in the south, despite the enemy trying to bring in reserves even though almost all their transport and logistical arteries have been hit or are under our fire control,” she added in a national broadcast.

Vesele – which is near the Kakhovskyi bridge, just metres away from a large dam – is a vital crossing point that Ukraine has attacked to try to weaken Moscow’s grip on a sliver of land it occupies on the Dnipro’s western bank. —>READ MORE HERE

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