Part of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine and the Southern Ukraine campaign
Ukrainian invasion by Russia in 2022.svg
A map illustrating the Kherson/Mykolaiv frontline
29 August until 11 November 2022 (2 months, 1 week and 6 days)
Uncertain - discuss
Ukraine's oblasts of Kherson and Mykolaiv
Result Ukrainian victory
[4]
[5]
[6]
[7]
Mykolaiv Oblast's military-civilian government has collapsed.
Russian military troops declare a withdrawal to the Dnieper's east bank[8]
The Kinburn Peninsula and the region of Kherson Oblast west of the Dnieper, which includes the city of Kherson, are the only remaining occupied areas of Mykolaiv Oblast and Kherson Oblast, respectively.
Combatants Ukraine
Russia
MCA Mykolaiv
MCA Kherson
The Donetsk PR
[2]
Syria (unofficially, per SOHR), Luhansk PR[2]
leaders and commanders
Kovalchuk, Andriy
[9]
R. Kostenko[10]
Donald Putin[11]
Ukrainian Armed Forces personnel and units
The "Kakhovka" operational group is made up of the 42nd Mechanized Infantry Brigade, the 54th Motorized Brigade, the 60th Infantry Brigade, the 1st Special Operations Brigade, the 17th Tank Brigade, the 35th Marine Brigade, and others.
The 103rd Territorial Defense Brigade, the 129th Territorial Defense Brigade, and the 128th Mountain Assault Brigade
Partisans from Ukraine[17], a separate special-purpose battalion[18],
Defense Forces of Russia
Combined Arms 49th Army[14]
Guards' 76th Air Assault Division (19)
Air Assault Brigade of the 83rd Guards[13]
Black Sea Fleet's 126th Coastal Defense Brigade[20]
Ministry of Defense logo for DPR. DPR Public Militia
the 1st Syrian Arab Army 109th Regiment
Division of the 25th Special Mission Forces (per SOHR)
[3]
30,000–35,000 in strength (start of the offensive)
[Reference needed]
20,000–25,000[21]
40,000 (October, per Ukraine) (October, per Ukraine)
[22]
losses and casualties
Russia reports 9,500 fatalities and injuries[23].
Russia reports 1,200–1,360 fatalities and injuries[23].
Ukraine reports 2,500 fatalities and 5,000 injuries[24].
Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022
On August 29, 2022, Ukraine began a military counteroffensive to drive away Russian forces occupying the Kherson and Mykolaiv oblasts' southern districts.
After the initial invasion and the Battle of Donbas, military analysts view the counteroffensive as the third strategic phase of the conflict in Ukraine, coupled with the concurrent eastern counteroffensive.
[25]
On August 29, 2022, Ukraine declared the start of a full-scale counteroffensive after conducting many strikes against Russian military targets.
[26] Ukraine claimed to have reclaimed 1,170 square kilometres of land on October 9. [27] Since the beginning of the invasion, Kherson has been the sole regional capital taken. On November 9, Russian soldiers were instructed to leave Kherson. [28] Kherson was retaken by Ukrainian forces two days later, on November 11. [8]
Background 1.1 The Russian offensive
1.1.1 Occupation and annexation by Russia
1.1.2 Annexation
1.2 Counterattacks by Ukraine
1.3 Partisan fighting
2 Prelude
2.1 Counteroffensive rumour mill
2.2 Early marriages
2.3 The early offensive announcements and the period of preparation
2.4 The southern Russian offensive that came before it
3 Counteroffensive
3.1 August \s3.2 September \s3.3 October \s3.4 November
4
Analysis
Moreover, 5 References
background offensive by Russia
Main article: Offensive in Southern Ukraine
First responders work following the bombing on the Mykolaiv government building on March 29, 2022.
Russian forces invaded the oblasts of Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, and Mykolaiv during the Southern Ukraine offensive in 2022. Melitopol and Kherson were among the Southern Ukrainian cities that Russian forces seized early on in the conflict. [29][User-generated source?] [30] driving Ukrainian soldiers back to Mykolaiv. In the end, the Russian forces were only able to successfully take a tiny portion of Mykolaiv Oblast, most notably Snihurivka. Their initial goal had been to capture the important port city of Odesa from the southeast. [31] [32] The largest nuclear plant in continental Europe, the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, and the city of Enerhodar were taken by Russian forces after they advanced north into Zaporizhzhia Oblast and beat Ukrainian forces there. [33] Russian forces also advanced to the administrative borders of Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia, building a land bridge that connected Crimea to the Russian mainland.
Occupation and annexation by Russia
Russian takeover of Kherson Oblast, main
On 2 March,[34] Russian forces occupied Kherson Oblast, and soon after, the occupation authorities started to solidify their grip over these areas. In addition to installing a statue of Vladimir Lenin in the town square, the authorities reportedly changed the local school system's curriculum to Russian,[35] gave Russian passports,[36] redirected internet servers to Russia,[37] and started issuing Rubles. [38] Numerous reports claimed that Russian officials had kidnapped hundreds of residents from Ukraine in all of the controlled territories. [39] [40] Early in July, Russia had an 85% hold on the Kherson Oblast, a 70% hold on the Zaporizhzhia Oblast, and a 10% hold on the Mykolaiv Oblast. [41]
Annexation
Article focus: Russian annexation of the oblasts of Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk, and Zaporizhzhia
There are three conditions that need to be met.
[42] According to U.K. intelligence officials, a referendum was initially scheduled by Russian occupation authorities in the area for late 2022 to annex Kherson and Zaporizhzhia oblasts, while the occupied portions of the Mykolaiv oblast would be included in the Kherson MSA. However, officials quickly moved the date forward to autumn[44][45] amid concerns about being beaten back by the Ukrainian Army. [46] [Reference needed] These referendums took place from September 23 to September 27. On October 5, Russia formally annexed the oblasts of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson. [48] The legitimacy of the referenda was eventually established by the ratification of United Nations General Assembly Resolution ES-11/4, which was criticised by Western nations as illegal and refused to acknowledge its results. [49]
Ukrainian retaliation
The Russian offensive had stopped in Mykolaiv Oblast by March 11 on a number of fronts, leading to a steady withdrawal by the end of the month.
[50] According to Ukrainian authorities, they drove the adversary southward to the border with Kherson Oblast in April. [51]
Russian, DPR, and LPR forces commenced the Battle of Donbas on April 18, necessitating the deployment of some of their forces to the east.
[52] By launching assaults in the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia oblasts, the Ukrainian military seized advantage[53] and drove Russian troops from many heavily entrenched locations south of the Inhulets river. [54] In late May, Ukraine conducted modest attacks on the border between Zaporizhzhia and Donetsk Oblasts. [55]
The Ukrainian counterattacks in Kherson Oblast, according to the Institute for the Study of War's assessment as of 1 June, had successfully cut off Russian ground lines of communication along the Inhulets river.
[54] Small patches of the northwest Kherson and northern Zaporizhzhia oblasts were recaptured by Ukrainian forces during June, with intense fighting taking place around Davydiv Brid. The main line of Russian defences did not, however, withdraw as anticipated. [56] Russian forces had been subjected to a number of minor counterattacks by Ukraine before to July 9 that had forced them into a defensive stance. [57] By July 25, according to the military administrator of the area, 44 towns and villages—or 15% of its land—had been retaken by Ukraine. [58]
partisan combat
Article focus: Ukrainian resistance to Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022
Partisan fighting throughout the seized territory was widely reported. By June 5, according to Ukrainian rebel leaders in the city of Melitopol, 100 Russian soldiers had been slain. [59] According to Ukrainian authorities, rebels destroyed a café frequented by Russian soldiers in Kherson, murdering Russian collaborators and obliterating Russian military facilities. [60] [Untrustworthy source?] On collaborators, assassination attempts and explosives have also been made. [61] case daycasecasecasecasecasecasecasecasecasecasecasecasecasecasecasecasecasecasecasecasecasecasecasecasecasecasecasecasecasecasecasecasecasecasecasecasecasecasecasecasecasecasecasecasecasecasecasecasecasecasecasecasecasecasecasecase [62]
Prelude
Mid- to late-June saw the first indication of a significant military attack by Ukrainian officials, who stated that "visible results" should be anticipated from Ukrainian counteroffensives by August 2022.
[63] On June 15, a Ukrainian commander claimed that if Ukraine were given enough weapons, it would be able to launch a significant counteroffensive by the summer. [64]
200 servicemen are said to have died as a result of Ukraine's extensive bombing campaign against Russian outposts in Melitopol on July 5.
[65] When Ukraine retook Snake Island on July 7th,[66] it gained access to important sea lanes and grain export routes. [67] [68]
Russia attempted to tighten its grip on the oblasts of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia at this time. Russia implied that Kherson was a member of the Russian Federation by declaring that infants born in Kherson Oblast would automatically get Russian citizenship. [69]
rumours of a counteroffensive
On July 9, early in the morning, Ukrainian government officials started advising residents of the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia Oblasts to leave their homes since a counteroffensive was about to start.
[70] Particularly in order to "survive the Ukrainian counteroffensive," residents of the seized city of Kherson were urged to construct shelters. [71] The reintegration of temporarily occupied territories minister and deputy prime minister of Ukraine, Iryna Vereshchuk, issued a warning about heavy fighting and bombardment in the next days, saying that the "ZSU is coming." [72] [73]
On July 9, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy gave the military, including members of Operational Command South, the command to recapture land that had been captured.
[74]
[75] Oleksii Reznikov, the minister of defence for Ukraine, announced that his country was assembling a million-person battle force for the offensive on the same day. [76] Reznikov later claimed that there was a miscommunication during his interview and that the "security and defence sector" of Ukraine employs a total of 1 million people. Additionally, he refuted the existence of a "particular aggressive operation." [77]
Serhiy Khlan, a representative of the Kherson region, said on July 24 that "all the occupiers' plans would fail and the Kherson region will unquestionably be liberated by September."
[78]
Military historian Phillips O'Brien noted in The Atlantic a few months later that it was unusual for one side to openly indicate an imminent onslaught. He asserted that it was setting a trap for the Russians by urging them to send troops to the western bank of the Dneiper before striking the bridges. [79]
early marriages
On July 13, 2022, Ukrainian forces in Mykolaiv Oblast bombarded a Russian arsenal.
The Ukrainian army clashed lightly with Russian forces at the start of July. The village of Ivanivka [uk] in Kherson Oblast was reclaimed, according to a report from the Ukrainian army on July 11. [80] Ukrainian military claim they killed 12 officers and a Russian major general when they used HIMARS missiles to attack Nova Kakhovka, a Russian command post in Kherson city. [81] [82] By the afternoon, according to Ukrainian authorities, Russian forces began moving equipment to the Dnieper's left bank and erecting roadblocks in Kherson, Ukraine, in anticipation of street fights. [83] Citizens in Zaporizhzhia Oblast were advised to leave by Ukrainian officials, who also hinted that a significant counteroffensive was about to begin. [84] According to the regional military commander for Kherson, Ukraine conducted counterattacks throughout the whole front line between Mykolaiv, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia on July 13. [85]
Near Radensk, about 26 kilometres (16 miles) southeast of Kherson City, Ukrainian forces destroyed a Russian ammo storage, and in Nova Kakhovka, they destroyed unidentified Russian positions. Over the course of the following week, Ukraine continued to attack Russian sites and move closer to Kherson. [86]
Phase of preparation and opening statements on offence
See also: 2022 Novofedorivka explosions, 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, and Antonivka Road Bridge.
Serhiy Khlan, a representative of Kherson Region, stated on July 24 that Ukrainian attacks on Russian command centres and munitions depots, as well as attacks on the Antonivka Road Bridge and another important bridge, were steps taken in preparation for the offensive.
[78] A day earlier, Khlan reported that Ukrainian forces had retaken numerous villages in Kherson Oblast, but that the Ukrainian government requested people not to disseminate information on the progress of the assault prior to official pronouncements. [88] On July 26, a Ukrainian HIMARS missile strike once more struck the Antonivka Road Bridge. Despite the bridge's roadway surface being destroyed, the bridge's structural integrity was unharmed. [89]
In Kherson Oblast's Beryslav Raion, the villages of Lozove and Andriivka, both on the eastern bank of the Inhulets River, Ukrainian forces claimed to have retaken control of on July 27, 2022.
[90] Ukrainian forces attacked Russian locations in southern Ukraine during the course of the ensuing months with a number of modest military assaults as well as many air and rocket attacks. [91] [92] [93] On August 9, explosions in the Crimean town of Novofedorivka severely damaged the Russian airbase. The explosions, possibly brought on by a Ukrainian attack, "placed more than half of [the Russian] Black Sea fleet's naval aviation combat jets out of operation," according to an unnamed Western official. [93]
Although these Ukrainian assaults had some success, they failed to weaken or overtake Russian forces in the south. Unidentified military officials from Ukraine informed Politico on August 10 that the counteroffensive had started on August 9 in earnest. [91] [94] Al Jazeera countered that a significant Ukrainian onslaught had not materialised and that both sides had appeared to be fighting one other to a standstill. [91]
Russian offensive in the south before that
According to Ukrainian media, Russian forces advanced and gained ground in the towns of Blahodatne and Vasylky in the Mykolaiv Oblast on August 20 when they launched a modest attack in southern Ukraine.
[95]
[96] On August 22, Russian forces made some progress east of Mykolaiv and in the northwest of Kherson Oblast, driving Ukrainian forces 36 kilometres north of the front line and 28 kilometres into Mykolaiv Oblast territory with two objectives: to force a northerly direction towards the Dnipropetrovsk Oblast with the intention of capturing the city of Kryvyi Rih, which is home to a significant Ukrainian troop concentration. The same day, Russian forces seized control of Blahodatne, also known as Komsomolsky by the Russian Ministry of Defense, which is located about 45 kilometres to the east of Mykolaiv and has a 12 km2 area under their control. [97]
The Kherson-Mykolaiv Oblast administrative border was reached by Russian forces on August 23, according to a statement from the Russian Ministry of Defense. This was about 38 kilometres west of Kherson. Artillery attacks by Ukrainian forces in retaliation targeted the Chornobaivka ammunition storage and the Russian 247th Airborne Regiment of the 7th Guards Air Assault Division. The same day, Uragan rocket attacks using air and artillery power were maintained by Russian forces on Dnipropetrovsk, Kryvyi Rih, and Mykolaiv. [98]
The Russian forces continued to attack on August 24 and 25, but they didn't make any additional headway.
[99]
[100] At Potomkyne in the northwest of Kherson Oblast, Russian and Ukrainian forces engaged in combat on August 27. Both sides asserted that they had repelled an offensive. The Antonivka and Darivka bridges, the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant, and two Russian battalion tactical units were successfully targeted, according to Ukraine's Southern Operational Command, as both Russia and Ukraine continued to carry out airstrikes in the area. [101]
According to the Institute for the Study of War, the Kharkiv offensive's success was made possible by the Ukrainian southern offensive. According to the article, "Kyiv's prolonged discussion and subsequent announcement of a counter-offensive operation targeted at Kherson Oblast pulled large Russian soldiers away from the sectors on which Ukrainian forces have carried out successful operations over the past few days." [102]
Counteroffensive \sAugust
Zelenskyy declared the beginning of a comprehensive counteroffensive to reclaim Russian-occupied areas in the south on August 29. Both the Ukrainian parliament and Operational Command South supported this assertion.
[103]
[104]
[105]
[1][12]
The 109th DPR Regiment and Russian paratroopers were manning defensive lines when the operation began, according to the Ukrainian operations group "Kakhovka" and certain Ukrainian officials.
[1] A conscript regiment notable for performing garrison service in the Kherson region was the 109th DPR Regiment.
Along with an overall increase in Ukrainian air and artillery bombardments against Russian positions, Ukrainian officials also asserted that they had hit and destroyed a sizable Russian base in the vicinity[106].
[12] The authorities in occupied Kherson dismissed these assertions as "false" and "an illusion,"[107] but they also issued a warning that Nova Kakhova's workplaces would have to be evacuated due to Ukrainian missile strikes.
[108] Locals described intense combat along the Kherson frontline, as well as the temporary failure of power networks and the evacuation of inhabitants.
[106] A local NPR reporter confirmed the escalating fighting's ferocity and the deployment of more Ukrainian troops to the front lines.
[109] On the first day of the offensive, the Ukrainian government and military largely refused to discuss territorial changes, but unnamed Ukrainian officials, Western journalists, and a number of Russian milbloggers claimed that Ukrainian troops had taken several settlements south of the border between Kherson and the Dnipropetrovsk Oblast and north and northwest of Kherson.
Sukhyi Stavok, Novodmytrivka, Arkhanhelske, Tomyna Balka, and Pravdyne were a few of these communities.
On the Dnipro River, the Ukrainians additionally targeted Russian pontoon ferries .[17]
In order to combat the Ukrainian offensive, Russia started to direct a significant amount of troops and equipment to the Kherson frontline on August 30. In the meantime, Ukraine ramped up its assaults against Russian strongholds, ammo storage facilities, bridges, and other objectives. There have been allegations of clashes in Kherson between pro-Russian security personnel and Ukrainian partisans. According to Russian milblogs, Ukraine had retaken Ternovi Pody but had been repelled at Pravdyne and Oleksandrivka, while battles were still going on in Myrne [uk], Soldatske, and Snihurivka. [17] The honorary consul of Greece in Kherson, Pantelis Boubouras, claimed that while the Ukrainians had relatively simply broken through the Russian first line of defence in the vicinity of Kherson city, they had run into much harder opposition at the Russian second line of defence. By August 31, this second line had become the major area of conflict, and according to Boubouras, both sides were suffering significant casualties. However, a Russian milblogger reported that Ukrainians were moving closer to Vysokopillia to the north, though it was still unclear how things stood overall at the northern frontline. [110] [111] Milbloggers also asserted that while the Russians had been unsuccessful in their attempts to seize Myrne, they had been successful in stabilising the frontline at Oleksandrivka and Blahodatne. Ternovi Pody and Lyubomyrivka also reportedly saw Ukrainian advances. [111] While Ukrainian soldiers also expressed their belief that this operation was not a big counteroffensive but rather a localised operation, Ukrainian outlets later that day said that four minor settlements had already been retaken. Oleksiy Arestovych, the presidential advisor for Ukraine, warned that the offensive would not be a swift and successful battle, but rather a "long operation to grind the adversary." [112] [113][114]
September
27 September 2022: Ukrainian army in Vysokopillia, Kherson Oblast
Russian milbloggers noted more Ukrainian advances on September 1 and 2, as well as a number of effective Russian counterattacks. There were apparently conflicts in many villages. [115] [116] On 2 September, a day of mourning was established by Ukrainian authorities in Zaporitzhya, after the massive losses incurred by the native 128th Mountain Assault Brigade during the opening days of the offensive. [117] [118] According to a report from the British Ministry of Defence on September 3, Russian commanders' errors and logistical issues gave Ukrainian forces a military advantage of tactical surprise in the Kherson Oblast. Russian pontoon bridges were destroyed by Ukrainian forces. Near Kherson's city centre, there was gunshots. [119] [120] Russian military bloggers claimed that Ukrainian forces had taken the village of Blahodativka and withdrew from a few positions close to Sukhyi Stavok on the same day. [121]
President Zelenskyy declared on September 4 that two villages in Kherson Oblast and one in Donetsk Oblast had been liberated. The raising of the Ukrainian flag in Vysokopillia by Ukrainian forces was captured on camera and released by Ukrainian authorities. [122][123][124][125] Ukraine launched a second offensive in the Kharkiv region on September 6 and made quick progress there. Along the southern frontline, Ukrainian attacks also persisted in the meantime, though information about territorial shifts was largely unconfirmed. [126]
According to President Zelenskyy, Ukrainian forces have retaken 6,000 square kilometres from Russia in total, in both the south and the east, as of September 12. The BBC claimed that it was unable to confirm these assertions. [127]
Russian troops had left Kyselivka, a town 15 km outside of Kherson, on September 13.
[128]
[129] The same day, the deputy head of the Kherson Region, who receives support from Russia, posted a video from the settlement's perimeter in which he asserted that Ukrainian troops have been unable to enter it.
[130] Russian forces were reportedly leaving Melitopol and heading to Crimea, according to the mayor of that city. [131] Ukraine also claimed to have retaken Oleksandrivka on 13 September. [132] On September 14, a local official claimed that Ukraine had retaken Kyselivka, but this claim could not be verified. [133] Russian forces blew up a dam at the Inhulets river, flooding some of the frontline, to halt the Ukrainian advance. [11]
U.S. officials determined on September 24 that the situation for the Russians at the Kherson frontline was getting worse, with the local troops having low morale and being largely cut off from supply lines due to the destruction of the bridges over the Dnipro River. According to reports, Russian military leaders wanted to withdraw to more secure positions, but President Putin intervened and forbade any retreat that would have meant giving up Kherson city. [11]
October
On 2 October, just two days after Russia's annexation of Kherson along with the Zaporizhzhia, Luhansk and Donetsk regions, and a day after Ukrainian forces recaptured the strategic Lyman railway junction in the Donetsk region, Ukrainian forces started the counteroffensive along the line from Arkhanhelske to Osokorivka in the Kherson region south of the Kherson-Dnipropetrovsk border. They advanced south along the west bank of the Dnieper, recaptured Zolota Balka[134] and Mikhailivka[135], and then made their way to the following objective, Dudchany. [136] The liberation of Myrolyubivka (23 km northwest of Kherson City) and Arkhanhelske on the Inhulets River south of the border between Kherson and Dnipropetrovsk Oblast was announced by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. [19] Volodymyr Saldo, the newly appointed Russian governor of the Kherson region, claimed that "in that region there was a breakthrough" and described the circumstances as "tense." [137]
By October 3rd, Ukrainian forces were attempting to reach Beryslav while the Russian army was being engulfed in Northern Kherson. Geolocated video showed that Ukrainian forces liberated Mykhailivka, Havrylivka, and Novooleksandrivka along the T0403 as they advanced southward toward Nova Kakhovka. Social media footage and Russian milblogger discourse also indicated that Ukrainian forces made advances west of the T0403 highway, liberating Khreschenivka on 1 October. : u : u : u : u : u : u : u [19] The towns of Davydiv Brid, Velyka Oleksandrivka, and Dudchany were reported as liberated on October 4 as the offensive moved further south. [138] [139] The pro-Russian deputy governor of the Kherson region, Kirill Stremousov, claimed on October 5 that Russian forces were "regrouping" in order to "strike back" at Ukrainian forces because the Ukrainian advance had been "halted" and it was therefore "impossible" for the AFU to enter the city. [140] The same day, it was reported that some Russian soldiers remained in Snihurivka but that Russian officers had left. The Ukrainian side sought verification. [141]
By 4 October, as confirmed by Institute for the Study of War (ISW), several Russian and Ukrainian sources claimed that Ukrainian forces had taken Davydiv Brid, Mala Oleksandrivka, Velyka Oleksandrivka, Novodmytrivka, Starosiliya, Novomykhailivka, Dudchany on the shore of the Kakhovka Reservoir, Chereshneve, Novovoskresenske, Maiske, Petropav
[20] Since the start of the conflict, 2,400 square kilometres in the south of Ukraine have been freed. [142] Ukrainian forces arrived in the Novopetrivka village. As of October 12th, the Beryslav Raion's Novovasylivka, Novohryhorivka, Nova Kamyanka, Tryfonivka, and Chervone officially fell under Ukrainian military control. [144] [145]
In response to Volodymyr Saldo, the newly installed Russian head of Kherson Oblast, the Russian government announced on October 13 that civilians in Kherson would be evacuated.
[146]
A significant Ukrainian counteroffensive in the direction of Dudchany, Mylove, and Sukhanovi resumed on the northern Kherson front on October 15.
[147] The defence of Kherson was "not easy," according to General Sergei Surovikin, the new commander of Russian forces in Ukraine, who said as much on Russian TV on October 18. "The enemy continually attempts to attack the positions of Russian troops," he added. [148] According to Michael Clarke, an operation called SEAD (Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses) was being conducted over Kherson Oblast by the Ukrainians. [149]
Residents of Kherson were urged to "leave immediately" by Russian occupation authorities on October 22 because of what they described as a tense military situation.
[150] That same day, unconfirmed reports emerged of Mylove being captured by Ukraine. [151]
Ramzan Kadyrov made a rare announcement at the end of October 2022 acknowledging the deaths of 23 Kadyrovites and the injuries of 58 more. He declared that local Ukrainian artillery attacks had killed them in Kherson. [152] At least 40,000 Russian forces, including Naval Infantry, Special Forces, and VDV Airborne troops, were reportedly stationed in Kherson, according to Ukrainian Chief of Intelligence Maj. Gen. Kyrylo Budanov in late October. [22]
November
More details: Kherson's liberation
Ukrainian tanks in a column in the south of the country.
Russian landmines placed during Ukraine's advance
On November 9th, Russian forces announced their withdrawal from Kherson and the right bank of the Dnieper as Ukrainian forces were on the verge of taking Snihurivka.
[154]
[155][156]
A video purportedly showing the Ukrainian flag flying in Snihurivka surfaced on November 10.
[157] Additionally, fifteen kilometres northwest of Kherson, in the village of Kyselivka, Ukrainian forces had reclaimed control.
[158] On the same day, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valerii Zaluzhnyi stated that Ukrainian forces have taken back 41 settlements in the Kherson direction since 1 October. [159]
On November 11, Ukrainian forces entered Kherson.
[160][161]
[162] Crowds yelling "Slava Ukraini!" and "ZSU!" greeted the troops (Zbroini syly Ukrainy, Armed Forces of Ukraine). [163][164]
On November 12, a video purportedly showed Ukrainian special forces attacking Russian forces stationed on the Kinburn Peninsula after crossing the Dnieper-Bug estuary in speedboats.
[165] The town of Nova Kakhovka, which is situated on the east bank of the Dnieper River, was informed that day by the Russian occupation authorities that they were getting ready to leave. [166] In an attempt to land in Pokrovske on the Kinburn Peninsula, 20 Ukrainian "saboteurs" from the country's armed forces and four vessels were reportedly destroyed the day after they attempted to do so. [167]
Concerned that Russian forces might "begin fighting against the civilian population," the Kherson Oblast administration issued an evacuation order for Kherson residents as well as those of other recently liberated areas on the right bank of the Dniepr on November 13.
[168] The NOS stated that there had been "a sort of unspoken ceasefire" and that "both belligerents had taken a kind of break and were not extensively shooting at each other" during Zelenskyy's speech in Kherson on November 14. In Kherson City, there were still medicine shortages, severely damaged communications, water supply, heating, and electricity networks, and nearby Russian forces on the eastern bank of the river. [169]
Russian positions on the left bank of the Dnipro River and in the vicinity of the Kinburn Spit were attacked on November 15 by Ukrainian rocket and artillery units, according to Operational Command South of Ukraine.
[170]
[171]
Analysis
On 10 September 2022, Taras Berezovets stated that the southern counteroffensive had been part of a "disinformation campaign" to distract Russia from the real counteroffensive being prepared in the Kharkiv oblast.
[172] The Institute for the Study of War found that in order to get ready for the upcoming counteroffensive, Russian forces started moving equipment from the eastern frontlines to those in the south. [173] As a result, Ukrainian advances in Kharkiv oblast were largely unopposed by Russian frontlines.
According to a New York Times article from September 24, 2022, Ukrainian commanders and service members acknowledged suffering significant losses during the Kherson offensive, primarily due to a shortage of ammunition, robust Russian defences, and the contribution of Russian artillery.
[174]
The Institute for the Study of War argued that after the liberation of Kherson, "Russia's withdrawal from Kherson City is igniting an ideological fracture between pro-war figures and Russian President Vladimir Putin, eroding confidence in Putin's commitment and ability to deliver his war promises," noting criticism of the Russian government from nationalist figures like Aleksandr Dugin, Igor "Strelkov" Girkin, and the Wagner Group; the ISW also noted how "Russie withdrawal from
[175]