Bridgehead in Krynky: Ukrainian defenders' needs on left bank of Dnipro River
Marines hold a bridgehead in Krynky (Getty Images)
There are no significant changes on the left bank of the Kherson region. The Ukrainian Marines are holding the footholds and imposing their initiative, but it is too early to talk about the final consolidation, according to the RBC-Ukraine article "Avdiivka and Maryinka situation, Ukrainian maneuvers near Horlivka: Frontline overview".
Russians suffer heavy losses and complain about FPV drones, which are growing the "cemetery" of Russian military equipment. Ukrainian networks are constantly posting the results of the UAV operators' work: only in the area of Krynky village more than 100 tanks, armored personnel carriers, and other equipment were destroyed. And in Oleshky, drones hit a command and observation post.
According to General Staff spokesman Andrii Kovalov, in this situation, the commander of the Russian Dnepr group, Mikhail Teplinsky, began transferring officers with poor motivation and discipline to assault troops.
"These are kind of assault battalions, like the White Guard units of the 1920s," he says.
Expert Vladyslav Seleznov calls Teplynsky perhaps the only adequate Russian general. But even he, with tanks, armored personnel carriers, aircraft, and artillery, cannot do anything about our infantry.
"Perhaps Teplynsky is creating assault units from officers who refused to go. We'll see how effective it will be. In any case, the motivation of Ukrainian marines is impressive. The Russians have a 69,000-strong grouping on the left bank of the Dnipro, while we have several companies of Marines and Territorial Defense units. The forces are incomparable, but the enemy has been suffering losses for two months and has not been able to achieve results," he says.
The "gray zone" on the left bank of the Dnipro has been unchanged for several weeks now (photo by deepstatemap.live)
How the situation may develop
Our fighters are operating in the most unfavorable conditions, without support in the form of a reliable ferry. It is too early to say that the Marines have finally gained a foothold in the footholds until they do.
From an engineering point of view, this is a difficult task, as the Dnipro River is 1,000 meters wide. To secure the crossing from enemy artillery, we need to move inland up to 25 kilometers. And to advance, they need heavy weapons that cannot be moved without a crossing.
"It's a vicious circle. And I don't see a way out of this situation yet," Seleznov adds.
A foothold in Krynky
The Ukrainian Armed Forces have been conducting an operation on the left bank of the Dnipro River in the Kherson region for almost two months. Despite the relatively small size of the bridgehead and its continuous bombardment by Russian aircraft, the occupiers have not been able to seize the initiative.
At a press conference on December 14, Vladimir Putin had to comment on the Ukrainian Armed Forces bridgehead and the inability of the Russian army to do anything about it. Putin claims that the Russians are not suffering any losses, which is far from the reality.
