Ukrainian Forces Report Advancement at Dnipro River amid Drone Attacks on Capitals

The Ukrainian army reported on Sunday that they have pushed Russian forces back “three to eight kilometres” from the banks of the Dnipro river. This would mark the first significant advance by Kyiv’s forces in months. The two forces have been entrenched on opposite sides of the river in the southern Kherson region for over a year. Ukraine has made multiple attempts to cross and hold positions on the Russian-controlled side, with officials in Kyiv finally reporting a “successful” breakthrough last week. Army spokeswoman Natalia Gumenyuk stated that the progress made by Kyiv varied from three to eight kilometres, depending on specific geographic and landscape factors. She did not disclose the number of troops or equipment Ukraine had on the eastern side of the Dnipro. Gumenyuk acknowledged that there is still much work to do and that the enemy continues artillery fire, estimating that “several tens of thousands” of Russian troops are in the area. The battle comes after Kyiv’s summer counteroffensive had largely not met expectations, with just a few small villages retaken. A bridgehead on the east bank of the Dnipro could potentially allow a deeper offensive in the south, but it would require deploying more men and armour into challenging marshy conditions. An advance to push Russia back from the river’s shores would also provide protection to Ukrainian towns and villages facing relentless Russian shelling. Additionally, drone attacks have intensified this week, with both Kyiv and Moscow being targeted. However, both sides claim to have intercepted most of the drones, and no victims were reported. Russia’s defense ministry stated that its own drones hit a fuel depot in Ukraine’s central Kirovograd region and an ammunition warehouse near the capital. Kyiv claimed to have shot down 15 of 20 Russian drones, while Moscow claimed to have destroyed 31 Ukrainian drones.