Ukraine’s counteroffensive

Ukraine’s counteroffensive Kherson bound

ZE LE NO DO LSK AND KRY V YI RIH Driving Russian occupiers from the south will be a fierce fight

In the early days of the war in Ukraine, a rapid Russian advance plunged Kherson said. “Neither side is going to give up.” Kherson, a gateway to Crimea, is the province into darkness. What little is known about life there comes from refugees who escape to frontline towns such as Zelenodolsk. They come by foot, bike, boat and in wheelchairs. One woman was dragged by her son on a carpet. At one point, nearly 1,000 were arriving a day. Destroyed bridges and increased risks have cut the daily count to single digits. But a vast yard of abandoned bicycles, wheelchairs and baskets stands as a memorial to the lives left behind—temporarily, so those who have fled hope.

The most recent arrivals talk of intense fighting as Ukraine readies itself to counterattack from the west, near Mykolaiv, and the north, from towns like Zelenodolsk. Vlad Milin, 31, and Olha Shelemba, 26, said that shelling had become so relentless in their village, Dovhove, that they decided to travel with their five young children in a boat, then navigate fields and mined roads to safety. There was little point in watching the battle unfold, they only regional capital Russia has captured since the war began on February 24th. Just as important to Russia’s southern strategy is its occupation of neighbouring Kakhovka, on the left bank of the Dnieper, where a dam provides the annexed peninsula’s water. The region is an agricultural powerhouse, growing tomatoes, watermelons, sunflowers and soyabeans. For these reasons and more, Ukraine is trying hard to retake it. The country’s forces can already boast tactical successes. A militaryintelligence officer says forward units are within sniper range (a kilometre or so) of Chornobaivka, an outer suburb of Kherson. “The next week or two will be even more interesting,” he promises.

Whatever is under way does not yet appear to be a fullfledged counteroffensive. Ukraine remains focused on halting Russia’s advance in the east; on July 2nd its troops retreated from Lysychansk in Luhansk province. Its southern grouping does not enjoy the threetoone advantage strategists recommend for an offensive. Soldiers complain of a shortage of ammunition and infantry. “There is a tendency by our bosses to overstate success on the battlefield,” says Banderas, the nom de guerre of a Ukrainian reconnaissance commander. That could change only if more Western rocket systems are used in the southern theatre, he adds. Currently only a handful of M777 howitzers are deployed there.

Where the Ukrainians are pushing, the Russians are fighting back. Serhiy, a Ukrainian territorialdefence soldier working behind Russian lines in Vysokopillya, just across from Zelenodolsk, says the enemy has built reinforced bunkers under the ground. When they try to push the Russians out, they return in greater numbers. “Their ten becomes a hundred,” he says. One village base has four airdefence units protecting it. Ukraine’s task has been hindered, the soldier complains, by locals who have not fled the occupation and are being used by Russian troops as human shields:

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