Ukraine conflict: Ukraine military claims it has broken Russian lines in Kherson

Ukraine’s military has said it has broken through Russia's first line of defence in parts of the occupied Kherson region

Ukrainian forces claimed it had made gains in the first major Ukrainian city to fall into Russian hands after troops advanced into the southern city from the Crimean Peninsula in the opening days of the war.

The push comes following weeks of speculation of a counter offensive amid weeks of Ukrainian attacks aimed at cutting off Russian forces in Kherson from main supply routes.

In turn however, Russia’s Defence Ministry said its forces had inflicted heavy personnel and military equipment losses on Ukrainian troops trying to attack in three directions in Ukraine’s southern Kherson and Mykoaiv regions, the state news agency Tass reported.

Russian soldiers patrol an area of the Metallurgical Combine Azovstal, in Mariupol, on the territory which is under the Government of the Donetsk People's Republic control, eastern Ukraine, on June 13, 2022.

Residents reported explosions on Monday at a Kherson-area bridge over the Dnieper River that is a critical Russian supply line, and Russian news reports spoke of air defence systems activating repeatedly in the city, with night-time explosions in the sky on Monday night.

Moscow-appointed regional leader of Crimea, Sergei Aksyonov, dismissed the Ukrainian assertion of an offensive in the Kherson region as false, noting that the Ukrainian forces have suffered heavy losses in the area.

Claims from either side have not yet been verified.

The UK’s Ministry of Defence (MoD) claimed that Ukrainian attacks were continuing to disrupt Russian resupply amid ‘significant efforts’ to resupply their forces in Kherson.

In their latest intelligence updates the MoD said: “From early on 29 August 2022, several brigades of the Ukrainian Armed Forces increased the weight of artillery fires in front line sectors across southern Ukraine.

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“Ukrainian long-range precision strikes continue to disrupt Russian resupply. It is not yet possible to confirm the extent of Ukrainian advances.

"However, since the start of August, Russia has made significant efforts to reinforce its force on the western bank of the Dnipro River around Kherson.

"The Southern Military District’s (SMD) 49th Combined Arms Army has highly likely been augmented with components of the Eastern Military District’s (EMD) 35th Combined Arms Army.

"Most of the units around Kherson are likely under-manned and are reliant upon fragile supply lines by ferry and pontoon bridges across the Dnipro.”

It added: “This integration of SMD and EMD units suggests a significant reorganisation of Russia’s force in Ukraine.

"There is a realistic possibility that Russia has moved to rationalise the several, semi-independent, operational commands which contributed to its poor performance early in the invasion.

“If Ukraine succeeds in undertaking sustained offensive operations, the cohesion of this untested structure will likely be a key factor in the sustainability of Russian defences in the south.”

President Volodymyr Zelensky warned in his daily address last night that Russians must flee from the country if they want to survive.

He told viewers that thee border between the two countries has not changed saying “the invaders know it well” and Ukraine will oust them from the country.

“Ukraine is returning its own, and it will return the Kharkiv region, Luhansk region, Donetsk region, Zaporizhzhia region, Kherson region, Crimea, definitely our entire water area of the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov - from Zmiinyi Island to the Kerch Strait.

“This will happen. This is ours. There will be no place for them on Ukrainian land.”