Could be decisive for this year’s campaign: expert on the successes of the Armed Forces on the left bank of Kherson region

In turn, Natalia Gumenyuk, a spokeswoman for the Southern Defense Forces of Ukraine, said on the air of United News that the deteriorating weather conditions complicate the fighting. “We are talking about both the occupiers and the Ukrainian Defense Forces. So now our fighters are trying to gain a foothold on the left bank.

– We need to realize that in the face of very bad weather, it is now difficult. This not only complicates physical advancement, but also aerial reconnaissance. Because there is a storm warning. And the enemy is now unable to use tactical aviation as powerfully as they did before this stage (remember the bombing of 70-80 targets per day). So now this period is being used to consolidate our successes as reliably as possible,” she emphasized.

How the consolidation on the left bank will affect the frontline

The successes of the Ukrainian Defense Forces jeopardize the entire Russian defense in the South, said Yevhen Dykyi, former platoon commander of the Aidar battalion and ATO veteran, in an exclusive commentary to ICTV.

Moreover, the battles on the left bank of the Kherson region may become decisive for this year’s campaign.

– In fact, their outcome will determine what we will do next in the winter and next year,” the expert emphasizes.

In addition, Dykyi explains that currently, the entire defense of the Russian Federation is based on the fact that they have the so-called Surovikin line, which is very difficult to break through.

– Over the summer, we managed to completely destroy the first of the three defense lines. There are still very heavy battles on the second line of defense, and we haven’t even reached the third yet. And then there is the Dnipro River, which they also consider a defense line and where there has long been a “gray zone” on the left bank. “Our sabotage and reconnaissance groups were constantly operating there, but the Russians believed that we would never be able to move any serious forces there, especially armored vehicles, and develop an offensive deep into their rear,” he says.

Despite such expectations, the Ukrainian military managed to land on the left bank and gain a foothold there. However, from that moment on, the occupiers have been working on the Ukrainian Defense Forces with everything they can. According to Dykyi, the biggest threat there is Russian aviation.

– But we can already state the fact that they have failed to throw our fighters back into the Dnipro. The foothold is already there, it is, so to speak, stationary, permanent, reinforcements are being sent to it, it is gradually expanding. This poses a great threat to the entire Russian defense system. If the Armed Forces of Ukraine manage to transfer even more forces to this bridgehead and expand it in the direction of Crimea, in the direction of Perekop, they face the threat that their entire grouping may be cut into two parts,” the expert says.

“Therefore, the part of the occupiers that is currently defending along the Surovikin line in Zaporizhzhia will remain cut off from their main supply, which is carried out through the Crimean peninsula.

– If we succeeded, it would mean a turnaround in the entire campaign, it would actually be the success of our summer and fall major counteroffensive. Whether we will succeed is now 50-50, because this is a war, because the Russians understand how high the stakes are no worse than we do,” adds Dykyi.

“So the occupiers are likely to throw all their reserves into preventing us from expanding this bridgehead, from breaking through further into their operational rear.

Photo: Volodymyr Zelenskyy