KYIV (Agencies): Ukraine said Friday it had carried out successful attacks on the Russian-occupied eastern bank of the Dnipro River, days after Moscow admitted Kyiv’s forces had gained a foothold there.
A sustained Ukrainian breakthrough across the frontline waterway would mark a significant success for Kyiv, whose wider counteroffensive has so far failed to turn the tide of the 21-month war.
“The Defense Forces of Ukraine conducted a series of successful operations on the left bank of the Dnipro River, along the Kherson front,” Ukraine’s Marine Corps said in a statement on social media.
Kyiv said its forces had “managed to gain a foothold on several bridgeheads.”
In a follow-up statement it added: “heavy fighting continues.”
The rival armies have been entrenched on opposite sides of the Dnipro since Russia withdrew from the western part of Kherson region last November, in an embarrassing setback for the Kremlin.
That was the last major territorial change in the conflict, with both sides having since failed to make progress despite multiple offensives.
Russia’s Defense Ministry later appeared to reject Kyiv’s claims of a breakthrough.
“The enemy (is) on the right (western) bank of the Dnipro,” the ministry said in a statement, adding that it had thwarted Ukrainian attempts to land on unspecified islands.
Both sides said they had inflicted heavy losses on the other — claims AFP could not verify.