![]() ![]() "The Russians have had faster boats for two months now," he said, making adjustments to his mortar. Nearby a 31-year-old gunner with the call sign Vitamin was tasked with firing mortar rounds at coordinates provided by scouts like Vozhd. "We have to be discreet here," said one soldier, referring to pro-Russian informers among the local population. "Because of the flooding, there are mines everywhere: inside ruined houses, in thickets and caught in dead branches," he said.Īt another position near the Dnipro, a unit of the 123rd territorial brigade was using a large abandoned building as a mortar position and to hide boats. His work was to clear mines before assault brigades arrive, a task made more difficult by the breach of the dam in June, which sent a torrent of floodwater downstream and dislodged landmines. Karamba, a mustachioed 35-year-old, participated in operations on the opposite bank. It won't be easy but on the other hand, this is our homeland and we know the terrain," Armyanchik told AFP, conceding his forces lacked armored boats. ![]() Vozhd's 45-year-old commander, whose call sign is Armyanchik, said his men also sometimes cross to the Dnipro's left bank. This autumn, Ukrainian forces appeared to have established several small bridgeheads on the left bank northeast of the city of Kherson. This position is higher than the opposite bank sheltering the Russian lines, around 10 kilometers across the water. "We have the advantage on this side," Vozhd said, standing on a small promontory topped with tufts of dry grass. Kyiv launched a major counteroffensive in the south and east in June but the front line has barely moved and the two sides have continually bombarded each other with heavy weaponry. When the sky is clear, you can see boats arriving much better," he said. Wearing a balaclava and carrying a gun, the 38-year-old serviceman said the good weather the region had been enjoying was playing in their favor. His unit was keeping watch on the riverbank southwest of Kherson city, ready to alert artillery units if Russian forces made an incursion across the river. ![]() "The Russians are throwing everything they have at us: artillery, attack drones, phosphorus," an army sergeant with the call sign Vozhd, or Leader, told AFP. While Ukraine's recapture of Kherson city last November was a defeat for the Kremlin, Russian forces on the opposing bank still control swathes of territory and shell towns and villages they retreated from. The river winds the length of the country from north to south, eventually flowing into the Black Sea from the Kherson region, where it separates the two armies. The Dnipro, Europe's fourth-longest river and a historic trading route, has become a key front since Ukrainian troops pushed Russian forces back over its banks in the south last year. A sweeping plain dotted with ruined houses stretched into the horizon and toward the blue expanse of the Dnipro River, where a clutch of Ukrainian forces were poised for Russian attacks. ![]()
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