Ukrainian forces continue their offensive against Russian forces on Monday, Kiev government sources and international observers told the Associated Press, citing new achievements in the Kherson region, which the Kremlin plans to annex.
Kherson, in the south, has seen the “heaviest” and slower-moving fighting, according to Associated Press (AP) sources, compared to Kiev’s counter-offensive in the Kharkiv region of northeastern Ukraine in September.
Kherson is one of four regions that Moscow declared annexed last week after a referendum organized by the Kremlin and labeled a sham by the West.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov said on Monday that the Donetsk and Lugansk regions will join Russia in maintaining the borders that existed before 2014 (the year of Ukraine’s first invasion).
Peskov reiterated that the borders of the Kherson and Zaporijia regions are “still open”.
“We will continue to talk to the inhabitants of these regions”Peskov said at a press conference without providing further details.
On Monday, Ukrainian media released images of Ukrainian troops raising flags in the city of Khreshchenivka, in the Kherson region.
Ukraine has been exerting pressure on Russian forces in the Kherson region since the summer in an attempt to cut the Russian army’s supply lines east of the Dnieper River.
According to the AP, the Ukrainian army has used US weapons, namely the HIMARS artillery rocket launcher, especially in the area of the main bridge of the Dnieper, in Kherson.
According to the AP, Russian beachheads have also been attacked by Kiev artillery on the right bank of the river to disable the crossings.
Despite successful attacks on Russian supply lines, the Ukrainian offensive in the south was slower than the military campaign in the northeast of the area.
However, Russia attacked Kryvyi Rih, the hometown of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, on Sunday with unmanned aerial vehicles (drones), but the Ukrainian army is maintaining positions, according to the AP.
The latest political and military statements by Russian President Vladimir Putin, namely the illegal annexation of Ukrainian territories, prompted Ukraine to formally apply for membership of the Atlantic Alliance.
Referring to NATO on Sunday, Zelensky mentioned in the same speech the recapture of Lyman, a point deemed strategic for Russian supplies and logistics.
This Monday, a note from the office of the head of state of Ukraine also listed Russian attacks on eight Ukrainian regions in the past 24 hours.
The latest attacks have left two dead and 14 injured, all of them civilians, according to Kiev.
Source: DN
