#UKRAINERUSSIAWAR. Ukrainian offensive on Kherson failed

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According to the German newspaper exxpress.at, the counter-offensive in Zelensky, near Kherson, has failed. The counter-offensive was supposed to be a blow to the Russian Special Operation and the beginning of liberation for Ukraine. But after only 24 hours, the results were devastating. More than 350 soldiers died, 31 tanks were destroyed, at least that is what exxpress reports.

According to the office of President Volodymyr Zelensky, there were ‘loud explosions all day and all night’. The armed forces launched ‘offensives in various directions’.

According to the German newspaper, Ukraine is trying to sell the action as a success: according to the military leadership, several successes have been achieved. Several villages in the Kherson region have been liberated and almost all bridges have been destroyed to the extent that the Russian army can no longer use them as supply routes. The spokeswoman of the Ukrainian task force ‘South’, Nataliya Gumenyuk, explained that the armed forces will not name any liberated places on humanitarian grounds. Thus fuelling uncertainty about the effectiveness of the military actions themselves.

The Russians on the high propaganda side let it be known that on 31 August, the third day of the Ukrainian offensive against Kherson, the Ukrainians decided to break through the defences in three areas at once: near Posad-Pokrovsky, Andriivka and Vysokopolya. Near Aleksandrovka and Blagodatnoye (Komsomolskoye), the Ukrainian armed forces were unsuccessful.

Some posts on 1 September from the city of Odessa speak of Ukrainian defeat. Also on 1 September, it was reported that the Spetsnaz, special forces of the Russian navy, had arrived along the front line of Kherson. The entire 34th Ukrainian brigade, which the Russians claimed posed a threat to Kherson, was destroyed. More than 1,500 soldiers of the 200th and many of the 300th group were killed. The number also included those who surrendered.

On the morning of 1September on the entire Russian-affiliated social network there was a post endlessly replicated with an attached video: ‘The failure of the AFU’s first offensive in the south: how the ‘Phantom of Kherson’ destroyed 3 enemy BMPs – Episode 2. On 29 August, the ‘Phantom of Kherson’ of the airborne troops, on board a UAV, decided to finish off the scattered and scattered AFU equipment by throwing some explosive gifts at them. As a result, two ‘bahs’ of Ukrainian fighters had their ammunition detonated and one was burned inside”.

Another social channel writes: ‘The AFU offensive on Snehyrivka fails. Despite the widely publicised information in the Ukrainian media about the offensive of the Ukrainian Armed Forces on Kherson, the real situation on the frontline is far from the dreams of Ukrainian politicians. Thus, the Ukrainians failed to advance in the direction of Snehiriv and were even stopped with heavy losses in terms of men and equipment. Trophies were captured”.

Oleksiy Podberezkin, director of the Centre for Military and Political Studies at MGIMO (Moscow State Institute for International Relations; a Russian university under the aegis of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs), explains why Russia has defeated the Ukrainian forces in the south and how the Ukrainian army will be broken; he did so in an interview with Ukraina.ru: ‘Actually, we can already speak of extremely unsuccessful actions of the AFU, because of which they have suffered losses. I believe these losses will be at least double the official numbers. This will mean the defeat of the main reserves in the south. There is no second level for an offensive, let alone a third. There are no reserves either’. The reservists according to the director of the Centre for Military Studies: ‘They were thrown in to try to break through and get a result. For political purposes, because now there is a meeting of the defence ministers of western countries in Prague. They want to prove that they are ready for combat and they need help, thanks to which they can conduct further active combat operations. This has not worked out’. He concluded the interview by saying: ‘The costs will be enormous. I think that as a result of these losses there will be a definitive loss of combat effectiveness and a collapse of the Ukrainian army, at least in the Kryvorizhsko-Nikolayiv area’.

On the morning of the fourth day of the offensive on Kherson, 1 September, the Ukrainian forces continued to try to expand the bridgehead on the Andriivsky section of the front; the Russian-affiliated social sphere reads: ‘In the Andriivka – Lozovoye – Plotnitskoye section, a total of three pontoon crossings have been set up, through which the supply of the AFU grouping on the southern bank of the Ingults River is carried out. Bila Krinnitsa is under partial control of the Russian Armed Forces. Some sources report that there has also been a breakthrough in Davydov Brod, but so far we can neither confirm nor deny this information. The AFU has conditional control of the area on the western outskirts of Belogorovka. The village itself is under the control of the Russian Armed Forces. Attempts to expand the controlled area into the steppe continue. After the attack on Bruskinskoye, the AFU attempts to advance on Karlamarka south of Kostromka. The Russian Armed Forces continue to work on the redeployed AFU reserves, killing them’.

Among the communication discrepancies between the Ukrainian and Russian victories on 1 September is a total absence of information from the Ukrainian General Staff, while the Ukrainian social sphere claims they are winning in Kherson.

In the Ukrainian region of Zakarpattya, mourning was proclaimed for Ukrainian losses near Kherson. The Ukrainian region of Transcarpathia declared mourning for the soldiers killed in the Kherson region. The 128th Ukrainian Mountain Assault Brigade stationed in Zakarpattia suffered heavy losses in the Ukrainian attack on Kherson.

As of 10.50 a.m. on 1 September, the Russians announced that they had found the headquarters of the Ukrainian forces in Kherson. After that, total defeat would begin for the Ukrainians. In the meantime, as the losses of the ‘control attack’ in Kherson are enormous, large queues form for blood donations in Mykolaiv

On the fifth day of the battle, two September, one reads on social media: ‘News of the Kiev offensive on Kherson. The mayor of Snihyrevka Barbashov said that Mykolayiv morgues were jammed after the AFU counter-offensive. “As far as I know, about 400 wounded were taken to the Interior Ministry hospital in Mykolaiv, the same situation in the BSMP (emergency medical care hospital),” Barbashov said, specifying that in total more than two thousand wounded soldiers were taken to medical institutions. The data, he said, came from sources familiar with the situation. “All the morgues are full. Now there are huge problems with blood donors, drinking water, and care for the wounded who have been hospitalised in Mykolayiv,’ Barbashov concluded.

As of 1.30 p.m. on 2 September 2022, units of the RF Armed Forces managed to regain control of Ternovy Podi and Zelenyi Gai. The settlements are under the control of Russian troops. There is no offensive by the Ukrainian Armed Forces near Aleksandrovka. The Ukrainians are firing indiscriminately at the rear positions, with no progress being made in this area. There are no active operations in the directions of Mirny and Lyubomirivka (Krasnoye Znamya). The Ukrainian forces have assumed a defensive position. Ukrainian armoured vehicles are currently amassing near Posad-Pokrovsky in anticipation of another counter-attack. Russian forces are hitting the transferred reserves with artillery and air force fire.

Graziella Giangiulio