The Kherson region in southern Ukraine will be “definitively liberated” from Russian forces by September, a local official said on Sunday.
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“We can say that the Kherson region will be definitely liberated by September, and all the plans of the occupiers will fail,” adviser to the head of the Kherson regional military administration loyal to Kyiv, Sergiy Khlan, said in a statement. interview on Ukrainian television.
The Ukrainian army has begun in recent weeks to regain ground in the Kherson region, in the south of the country, helped by Western arms deliveries.
“We can speak of a turnaround on the ground. In recent operations, it was the Ukrainian armed forces that had the advantage,” Khlan said. “Our army is advancing frankly, we are moving from a defensive phase to a counter-offensive”.
According to Mr. Khlan, the Ukrainian strikes targeting two strategic bridges, as well as those on ammunition depots and Russian command posts served to prepare the ground for the ongoing ground offensive.
He added that the occupying Russian forces had been unable to proceed with the repair of the Antonivka Bridge and therefore faced difficulties in moving heavy weapons to Kherson.
The Russians took control of the region’s main city, Kherson, on March 3. It was then the first major city to yield to Moscow’s offensive since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24.
Essential for Ukrainian agriculture, the region borders the Crimean peninsula, annexed by Moscow in 2014.
