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Ukraine plans to liberate Kherson and to end the active phase of the war by the end of the year. Dmytro Marchenko, Major General of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, told this in an interview with RBC Ukraine.
“Kherson will be liberated 100%. That is, the liberation of Kherson and the end of the active phase of the war, and then some more local military actions will take place. But by the end of the year, we must finish the main phase of this war.”
Major General Marchenko could not name any specific dates when the Ukrainian offensive operation in the Kherson region would begin, but asked the people of Kherson to “be a little patient.” According to him, “it won’t be as long as everyone expects, it will be quick”.
He is also sure that the occupiers in the Kherson region will not be able to hold their pseudo-referendums on joining Russia, because “the people of Kherson are very pro-Ukrainian and are fiercely resisting”.
According to Marchenko, Western aid is now coming to Ukraine in small batches and this is making it very difficult to carry out a counteroffensive. But he believes that as soon as Ukraine receives the full aid package, the offensive will be “rapid”.
August 8, the Armed Forces of Ukraine struck the Antonivka and Kakhovka bridges in the Kherson region. After that, families of Russian soldiers began to be taken out of occupied Kherson. In recent weeks, the Armed Forces of Ukraine have liberated quite a number of settlements in the Kherson region and continue to destroy enemy ammunition depots.
As reported earlier, Serhiy Khlan, aide to the head of Kherson region, assured that Kherson, which fell to Russian troops early in their February invasion, would be recaptured by Kyiv’s forces by September. Ukrainian army is beginning to conduct counteroffensives, given Ukrainian strikes on the Antonivka and Darivka bridges, the destruction of Russian arms depots, military equipment and command posts behind enemy lines and on the contact line.
