https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/ukr...023-11-14/
From what I have seen, Ukraine has established shallow footholds in several areas on the east bank of the Dnipro, but it looks like mostly small squads of infantry without any vehicles. I think it certainly speaks to Russia's problems with force quality and quantity that they can't defend these areas or counterattack with enough strength to extirpate the relatively lightly held beachheads.
That being said, Ukraine probably lacks the ability to rapidly exploit these beachheads as well. It will be tough to mass any mechanized forces in the very exposed terrain there with Russia easily able to eliminate them from the air or even simply with FPV drones and artillery.
Still, this will occupy Russia's attention and require them to actively defend a larger part of the front with their scarcer and scarcer high end equipment. And Ukraine will certainly be sending their own drone operators over the Dnipro to continue whittling away at that equipment.
Quote:Ukrainian forces have secured a foothold on the east bank of the Dnipro River in southern Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's chief of staff said on Tuesday.
Andriy Yermak's remarks were the first official acknowledgement that Ukrainian troops were established on the Dnipro's east bank in Kherson region.
"Against all odds, Ukraine's Defense Forces have gained a foothold on the left (east) bank of the Dnipro," Yermak said in an address to the Hudson Institute think-tank in the United States. The remarks were posted on Zelenskiy's website.
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In a highly unusual incident on Monday, two Russian state news agencies published alerts saying Moscow was moving troops to "more favourable positions" east of the Dnipro River in Ukraine, only to withdraw the information minutes later.
In the past, Russia has sometimes used similar phrasing about moving troops to more advantageous positions in order to describe retreats.
From what I have seen, Ukraine has established shallow footholds in several areas on the east bank of the Dnipro, but it looks like mostly small squads of infantry without any vehicles. I think it certainly speaks to Russia's problems with force quality and quantity that they can't defend these areas or counterattack with enough strength to extirpate the relatively lightly held beachheads.
That being said, Ukraine probably lacks the ability to rapidly exploit these beachheads as well. It will be tough to mass any mechanized forces in the very exposed terrain there with Russia easily able to eliminate them from the air or even simply with FPV drones and artillery.
Still, this will occupy Russia's attention and require them to actively defend a larger part of the front with their scarcer and scarcer high end equipment. And Ukraine will certainly be sending their own drone operators over the Dnipro to continue whittling away at that equipment.