Armed Forces in southern Ukraine announce counter-offensive in Kherson region

Latest news on the war confronting Russia and Ukraine.

Russian government considers Ukrainian military operation “failed”.

The Armed Forces in southern Ukraine announced Monday a counteroffensive in the Black Sea region of Kherson, a Ukrainian city under military control since mid-March, after breaking through the first line of defense of Russian troops.

“We strongly appeal to the civilian population, if there was not or now there is no opportunity to evacuate those cities where there may be active hostilities, to seek shelter and wait,” Defense Forces press spokeswoman Natalia Humeniuk has explained.

In this regard, she has explained that “the most important thing to know is that any military operation requires silence.” “It is very bad that any news from the front causes such a stir,” she added, as picked up by Radio Svoboda.

As explained by Ukrainian forces in the south of the country, one of the regiments of the self-proclaimed Donetsk Republic, the 109th, has withdrawn from its positions in Kherson, while Russian paratroopers supporting them have also left the battlefield.

“The Russian Army turned out to be cut off from the supply of weapons and personnel from the territory of Crimea. This is a brilliant opportunity for Ukraine to regain its territories,” he has explained, adding that HIMARS systems have destroyed almost all bridges providing access to the city.

Shortly after, Ukrainian Presidential Advisor Mikhail Podoliak has asked, as well as the spokeswoman for the Defense Forces in the south of the country, not to disseminate sensitive information or subjective opinions about the Ukrainian Armed Forces or their operations.

“Once again I remind all politicians, experts and public opinion leaders of the importance of not manipulating or speculating on information about the course of military operations prior to official statements by representatives of the Armed Forces or the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine,” she said, as reported by the UNIAN news agency.

The Russian Defense Ministry, on the other hand, has already considered as “failed” the counter-offensive launched in the Kherson and Nikolaev areas, which would have been carried out in three different directions, according to the Interfax news agency.

Moscow has reported the destruction of dozens of vehicles and also the death of more than 560 Ukrainian troops, although these data are impossible to verify independently.