Ukraine reports the recapture of over 40 towns in the south of the country. According to British intelligence, the Crimean bridge may take another year to be repaired. Meanwhile, Russia is withdrawing from Cherson. All news about the Ukraine war in the ticker.
7:15 a.m .: The military experts at the US “Institute for the Study of War” (ISW) do not assume that the coming winter will stop the Ukrainian army’s offensive. “There will be no winter standstill,” write the researchers in their daily status report. “Even if some Western observers assume that the advance will slow down.”
The justification of the “ISW” experts: The currently difficult because muddy ground conditions allow the Ukrainian troops to advance more slowly and cause problems for both sides. “For the well-equipped Ukrainians, a frosty terrain could even become an advantage. They might be able to progress more easily than they are now.”
According to the experts, only the poorly equipped Russians will continue to have major difficulties in winter. “The Ukrainian forces will not be stopped.” And when fighting comes to a standstill, it is not because of the winter weather, but because of general logistical challenges or because some fighting is at its peak.
Friday, November 11, 12:52 a.m.: Ukraine says it has recaptured more than 40 towns and villages in the south of the country from Russia. 41 settlements have been “liberated” from Russian occupation, said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in his daily address on Thursday.
Russia announced on Thursday that it had begun withdrawing its troops from the southern Ukrainian city of Cherson. Kyiv reacted with suspicion to the announcement of the troop withdrawal.
The Cherson region has been the target of a comprehensive Ukrainian counter-offensive for weeks. For Moscow, the region is of great strategic importance in order to be able to continue the offensive in the direction of Mykolaiv and the Black Sea port of Odessa. In addition, Kherson is home to the Kakhovka Dam, which supplies water to the Crimean peninsula annexed by Russia.
After the withdrawal of Russian troops from the Cherson region, Ukrainian soldiers said they had already moved into the first suburb of the southern Ukrainian city on Thursday. As reported by the Ukrainian governor of the Mykolaiv region, Vitaly Kim, the town of Chornobaivka is already under Ukrainian control. He did not want to give any further details. “We remain silent, because all this is a matter for the military.” The General Staff of Ukraine meanwhile said that the Russian military was only slowly withdrawing to strengthen its defense lines on the left bank of the Dnipro.
7.10 p.m .: According to media reports, Russian troops devastated the southern Ukrainian city when they left Cherson. In addition to the television center, district heating systems and radio masts, among other things, were blown up, Ukrajinska Pravda reported on Thursday. In addition, the electricity in the city had failed completely, as had the Internet. Several bridges over the Dnipro had already been blown up in the past few days.
A timetable for the withdrawal of Russian soldiers from Cherson and the entire area around the city on the right bank of the Dnipro, which had been ordered the day before, was not known. According to a report by the Russian agency Tass, units of the police and emergency services should only leave the city with the last troops.
The Ukrainian state agency Unian published a report with photos from villages on the outskirts of the Cherson region that had been liberated by advancing Ukrainian troops. “Destroyed houses, mines and garbage” can be seen everywhere.
2:22 p.m .: After the announced Russian troop withdrawal, Ukrainian troops advanced about seven kilometers in two sectors in the southern Kherson and Mykolaiv regions. About 264 square kilometers and twelve towns were recaptured, said the supreme commander of the armed forces, Valery Saluschnyj, on Thursday in the Telegram news service. Images from the liberated small town of Snihurivka in the Mykolaiv region had previously been circulated.
Since the beginning of October, the Ukrainian units in the Cherson region have advanced up to 36 kilometers and have liberated 1,381 square kilometers and 41 settlements, it said. This was also preceded by a Russian troop withdrawal.
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu announced in Moscow on Wednesday that Russian troops would withdraw completely from the right bank of the Dnipro. Safe supply of the units had become unrealistic after several bridges were damaged by Ukrainian missiles. The Russian army is thus giving up an area of around 4800 square kilometers.
Thursday, November 10, 11:55 a.m.: Ukrainian forces have reported the withdrawal of Russian troops from the occupied town of Snihurivka near Mykolaiv. On a video, which is also shown on state television, the fighters of a reconnaissance battalion speak of having “liberated” the city. Russia yesterday announced the withdrawal of troops from Kherson, also mentioning that it wants to give up the occupation of the city of Snihurivka.
The unverified video shows a group of Ukrainian soldiers apparently being greeted and applauded by civilians. The Ukrainian Ministry of Defense has not yet commented.
4:18 p.m .: Under pressure from Ukrainian counter-offensives, Russia’s troops are withdrawing from a strategically important part of the annexed southern Kherson region. Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu on Wednesday ordered the right bank of the Dnipro River to be cleared, according to Russian state television.
Wednesday, November 9, 9:39 a.m .: According to British intelligence experts, the repair of the damaged bridge to the Russian-occupied Ukrainian Black Sea peninsula of Crimea could take almost a year. “Russian efforts to repair the Crimean bridge continue, but it is unlikely to be fully operational before September 2023,” the Defense Ministry’s daily Ukraine war intelligence update in London said on Wednesday.
The bridge, which is important for the supply of the Russian invasion troops in Ukraine, was severely damaged by an explosion on October 8th.
According to a briefing to Russian President Vladimir Putin, work on the road bridge will continue to restrict traffic until March 2023, British experts said. The repair of the railway line was contractually agreed until September 2023. One track is currently usable, but train traffic is still restricted. In the winter months, the repair work will also depend heavily on the weather conditions.
7:28 p.m.: The Russian military attacked a number of targets in Ukraine on Tuesday. According to the Ukrainian general staff, both rockets and warplanes were used in the attacks in the Kharkiv, Donetsk, Zaporizhia and Cherson regions. “Critical infrastructure and homes continue to be attacked in violation of international humanitarian law and the rules of warfare,” the military wrote on Facebook. No further details were given about the effects of the attacks.
Ukraine’s General Staff accused the authorities of neighboring Belarus of continuing to support Russia’s attacks against Ukrainian targets by providing “infrastructure, territory and airspace”. “The danger remains that the enemy will launch airstrikes with combat drones from the territory and airspace of this country.”
In the region around the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson, the general staff in Kyiv registered continued organized looting by Russian soldiers. The day before, convoys with stolen household appliances and building materials had been observed, and at the same time the dismantling of mobile phone masts and systems continued. In addition, the occupiers took “all the art objects and even the furniture” from the regional museum of the Soviet-Ukrainian painter Oleksiy Shovkunenko.
Tuesday, November 8, 10:48 a.m.: According to British military experts, the Russian occupation forces in Ukraine are preparing for breakthroughs by the Ukrainians along the front. For this purpose, among other things, tank obstacles were set up around the occupied southern Ukrainian port of Mariupol, according to the daily intelligence update on the Ukraine war from the Ministry of Defense in London on Tuesday.
“Russia is strengthening its lines in all occupied territories,” the statement said. According to the British, this should probably prevent rapid Ukrainian advances in the event of a front breakthrough. As part of a land bridge to the occupied Black Sea peninsula of Crimea, Mariupol is of particular strategic importance.
4:47 p.m .: Russian troops are apparently looting abandoned houses in Cherson. This is reported by Ukrainian sources. In Cherson, Ukraine and Russia are preparing for what may be the decisive battle. In addition, Russian soldiers in civilian clothes are said to occupy houses to strengthen their positions for street fighting.
Ukrainian Presidential Advisor Mykhailo Pdoljak tweeted that Russia is forcibly evicting people from their homes and robbing them. Russia itself, on the other hand, speaks of an “evacuation”. In addition, Russian journalists would distribute videos accusing Ukraine of injuring civilians.
1:52 p.m .: Ukraine has received the first Nasams air defense systems. This was announced by the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense on Monday. The weapon system from Norway is intended to help against rocket and drone attacks. Especially with the increasing number of Russian drone strikes, Nasams can play an important role in defending Ukrainian cities.
The airspace of the US capital Washington D.C. is protected by the missile defense system. It is one of the world’s most widely used medium-range anti-aircraft systems.
In addition to Nasams, the Italian medium-range air and surface-to-air missile Aspide is now also in use in Ukraine, it said.
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