Ukrainian soldiers have reportedly pushed through the south of the country, along the Dnipro River, towards the occupied Kherson, in what could be called the biggest breakthrough since the counteroffensive began.
"Our Armed Forces are powerfully advancing just along the bank of the Dnipro closer to Berislav," Serhii Khlan, adviser to the head of Ukraine’s Kherson region military administration, said in a daily update.
"There's a settlement called Dudchany, right along the Dnipro River, and right there, in that region, there was a breakthrough. There are settlements that are occupied by Ukrainian forces," he said.
The report was later confirmed by the Russian-appointed administration in Kherson. "What can I say, my friends?," Kirill Stremousov said on Telegram. “The Nazi forces got through a little bit further but our defence is working."
"We are repelling all the attacks and to be fair, those who are panicking today on social media, they have to take a pause. It’s not Kharkiv here, it’s not Lyman here. We are holding our defence lines," he added.
However, an AFP report said a Ukrainian tank offensive had advanced dozens of kilometres along the river's west bank, recapturing several villages along the way.
Though Kyiv has not made any official comment about the reported advancement, a senior official with the government has shared a photo of a Ukrainian soldier posing from the village of Mikhailivka, which is around 20 km beyond the previous front.
"In the last days, we have seen the first photo of Osokorivka... we have seen our troops near the entrance to Mykhailivka, we have seen our troops in Khreschenivka, next to the monument. This means that Zolota Balka also is under the control of our armed forces, and it means that our armed forces are moving powerfully along the banks of the Dnipro nearer to Beryslav," Serhiy Khlan, a Kherson regional council member, told Reuters.
Ukrainian troops are now reportedly targetting supply lines for thousands of Russian troops on the west bank of the Dnipro.
"The fact we have broken through the front means that ... the Russian army has already lost the ability to attack, and today or tomorrow it could lose the ability to defend," Oleh Zhdanov, a military analyst based in Kyiv, was quoted by Reuters.
This comes as Ukraine launched a successful counter-offensive in the east, retaking Lyman which helped the Ukrainian forces to advance deep into Luhansk province. Through the move, Ukraine has managed to snap the logistical support available to Russian troops.
