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The counteroffensive of the Ukrainian military in the Kherson direction is progressing more slowly than in Kharkiv since it is an agricultural region with irrigation canals that the Russians can use as defensive trenches. Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov stated this in an interview with the Financial Times.
It is reported that the defenders inflicted significant losses on the occupiers in the Kherson region.
In addition, the General Staff noted that 1,200 Chechen soldiers were sent to strengthen Russian positions.
Reznikov said that the Chechens were being used to prevent front-line troops from leaving their positions.
As a reminder, Ukrainian defenders liberated 13 settlements in the south.
At the same time, about 40 settlements have already been deoccupied in the Kharkiv region.
Ukraine’s forces continued their rapid advance in the Kharkiv region, exploiting an extraordinary collapse of Russian defenses and raising the question of how far they can go.
Ukraine’s top commander Valery Zaluzhnyi said his forces had returned 3,000 square kilometers (1,158 square miles) of lost territory to Ukrainian control since the beginning of September. Estimates of regained ground have risen steadily in recent days.
The Ukrainian advances – if held – would be the most significant since Russia withdrew from areas around Kyiv in April.
The advances will be seen as a sign that Ukraine’s army has the capacity to retake Russian-occupied territory, crucial as Kyiv continues to ask its hard-pressed Western allies for military support.
Ukraine’s Foreign Minister, Dmytro Kuleba, said the latest developments had shown its forces were able to defeat the Russian army and could end the war faster with more Western weapons.
