Ukrainian military officials have claimed a “turning point” in the battle to retake the southern region of Kherson, saying they will use western weapons to liberate by September the first major city captured by Russian forces.
Sergiy Khlan, an aide to the administrative head of the Kherson region, said in an interview with Ukrainian television on Sunday: “We can say that a turning point has occurred on the battlefield. We are switching from defensive to counteroffensive actions.”
“We can say that the Kherson region will definitely be liberated by September, and all the occupiers’ plans will fail,” he added.
Helped by deliveries of western-supplied long-range artillery, Ukrainian forces have been clawing back territory in the southern Kherson region in recent weeks, adding to suggestions that its troops are edging closer to a long-promised counteroffensive.
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy endorsed claims of a successful counteroffensive during his national address on Saturday, saying Ukrainian forces were moving “step by step” into the city.
Kherson was occupied by the Russian army on 3 March, the first major Ukrainian city captured by Russian forces since 24 February.
Ukrainian officials believe that Russian troops were able to take the city in part because Ukrainian security service agents failed to blow up the Antonivskyi bridge that crosses the Dnipro river, allowing troops to enter the city.
However, an increase in strikes in recent days against key Russian weapons stores and logistics around the southern city has prompted Ukraine’s military to claim its forces have moved within range of Russian targets.
Last week, Ukrainian forces targeted the Antonivskyi bridge with US-supplied artillery.
UK officials described the site as a “key vulnerability” for Russian forces and said if “crossings were denied, and Russian forces in occupied Kherson cut off, it would be a significant military and political setback for Russia”.
Aide Khlan said in a Facebook post on Saturday that Ukraine’s offensive was a “continuation of the operation to cut off the Kherson group of Russians from supply” and that “without western armament, it would not have been possible.”
According to a report released on Sunday by the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), a Washington-based think tank, Ukrainian strikes “have damaged all three Russian-controlled bridges leading into Kherson City within the past week as of July 24”.
The ISW noted that open-source information on any progress by Ukrainian troops “will likely be limited and lag behind events”.
Khlan said in his latest operational update on Sunday evening: “Kherson was occupied from the first days and Russia really believed that it would be able to hold a referendum and create the HPR [Kherson people’s republic] here with Russian rules and orders.
“For almost half a year our people have been resisting … Occupiers are trying to forcefully and mentally conquer us, but we will endure and will definitely win.”
Russian military officials give a different story.
“That there will be a counteroffensive – all this is fantasy,” Kirill Stremousov, deputy head of the Russian-installed regional authority in Kherson, told RIA Novosti on Sunday.
Despite Russian denials, the British defence ministry confirmed Moscow moved to reinforce its defensive positions across the occupied areas in southern Ukraine in a “likely a response to anticipated Ukrainian offensives”.
“Given the pressures on Russian manpower, the reinforcement of the south whilst the fight for the Donbas continues likely indicates the seriousness with which Russian commanders view the threat,” the ministry said in a report on 17 July.