After the liberation of Kherson, Ukrainians look to Crimea

Above its majestic flow the Dnieper clearly separates the enemies who observe each other through binoculars. Initial fears of a Russian trap designed to draw Ukrainian troops into deadly urban warfare in the city of Kherson did not materialize. Kyiv regained control of the entire 4,500 km² The right bank of the Dnieper was occupied by Russia.

Ukraine won a victory with beautiful parameters, first without civilian bloodshed. Since August using HIMARS missiles and Western artillery (French Caesar, American M777, German PzH-2000, among others), it has broken the logistics of the invader and forced him to retreat. There was nothing obvious about this counterattack in the grassy area with the Ingolets River as a natural barrier, but very few trees to facilitate infiltration operations.

It appears that the Ukrainian forces do not have the numerical superiority needed to attack or a comfortable number of armor to protect their troops. The success of Kherson was a combination of Western intelligence and weapons supplies that allowed the Ukrainian army, its own arsenal bloodless, to attack the invader 70 km from the front line quickly and accurately. But above all, the impressive courage of Ukrainian soldiers and determination to liberate their territory.

On the contrary, Russia appears to have been successful in the evacuation, as Russian POWs do not appear to have been held in large numbers. In all likelihood, the evacuation of the right bank by the Russians was pre-planned and shown by satellite images in mid-October. Published Via Ukrainian intelligence site Schemy. Ukrainian civil servants no doubt knew this. Unable to evacuate the heavy equipment, the Russian army was forced to destroy part of it, and the rest was added to the 2,500 “trophies” that the Ukrainian army had already turned against its aggressor.

Crimea became a besieged fortress

However, the Russian withdrawal poses several challenges for Ukraine. With Russia retreating behind a vast natural barrier created by the Dnieper, the front suddenly shrank by 300 km. An amphibious operation striking the left bank frontally seems extraordinarily dangerous to Kyiv.

The arrival of “new blood” in the form of mobilized troops to increase the attack on the Moscow Bagmouth and the remaining 500 km. This would complicate the Ukrainian counteroffensive in the Luhansk and Zaporizhia regions. Because kyiv doesn’t want a front that freezes this winter and allows Russia to rebuild its forces for a second round next year.

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