(C) Daily Kos
This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered.
. . . . . . . . . .
Ukraine update: Russian state media reports that forces have been ordered to withdraw from Kherson [1]
['Daily Kos Staff', 'Backgroundurl Avatar_Large', 'Nickname', 'Joined', 'Created_At', 'Story Count', 'N_Stories', 'Comment Count', 'N_Comments', 'Popular Tags']
Date: 2022-11-09
Watching the lunar eclipse through light clouds at St. Michael's Monastery in a darkened Kyiv, Nov. 8, 2022.
On Saturday, Russian sources report that they have lost all contact with their forces inside the town of Snihurivka, a location that has been, for months, a fortress town guarding access to the city of Kherson. There has been speculation that those forces have gone into deep shelters, or that they are maneuvering to new locations. What’s clear at this hour is that Ukrainian forces have completely surrounded Snihurivka and entered parts of the city, which presents another option for that Russian silence: There may be no more Russian presence in Snihurivka.
In addition to liberating some portion of Snihurivka (reportedly the northern end of the town), there are multiple reports of a large number of Russian forces and Russian vehicles being destroyed in the area over the last two days. However, it should be noted that the video reportedly showing a Russian convoy being destroyed while trying to escape the city—which was widely distributed on Friday, including by me—has actually proven to be from months earlier.
Right now, only one Russian Telegram channel is reporting that Ukraine has completely liberated Snihurivka. Other channels and sources on both sides have confirmed that Ukraine has entered the city and established a presence there, but have not claimed that Russian forces have been eliminated. It’s going to be some hours yet before the real status of Snihurivka, and of other points along the front lines in Kherson, are better understood. But what news we have is all good news. Russia’s position in Kherson really does seem to be rapidly eroding.
Kherson area. Open in another tab for a closer look.
Meanwhile, Ukraine is reportedly advancing south of that location following a night-long exceptionally heavy bombardment with artillery. That includes an attack located east of Pravdyne. Based on the location of fighting, there are several locations that may have already been liberated in this area, but there has been no official announcement. There has, so far, been no report of renewed fighting at Kyselivka.
On the northern line, there are reports indicating that Russian forces are fleeing from locations, running back toward Beryslav in hopes of passage across the Dnipro River. In the process, Russians have reportedly destroyed their own bases at various points as well as blowing up bridges across the Inhulets River and a whole series of small rivers and bays along the western side of the Dnipro to slow the advance of Ukrainian forces.
x Red marks the places where bridges (were claimed to be)/(were) destroyed/damaged today by local media.
Bridges that were damaged/destroyed earlier are marked in yellow. pic.twitter.com/TkEwMLkx7R — Special Kherson Cat 🐈🇺🇦 (@bayraktar_1love) November 9, 2022
However, everything except the fact that Ukraine has entered Snihurivka—which has been confirmed by multiple sources and represents all on its own a huge change in the battle for Kherson—should be read with extreme caution. Those reports of Russians leaving positions on the north currently lack any kind of specificity, and they’ve not been followed by any images, or even reports, or Ukrainian forces entering Mylove, Bruskynske, and Sukhanove. (Though the bridge just north of Mylove is one of those reportedly destroyed on Friday night.)
Meanwhile, there are additional reports that Russian locations in and around the city of Kherson itself have been abandoned. Some of those reports have been accompanied with videos of abandoned checkpoints. At the very least, it’s clear that Russian forces have been redeployed to other locations. Those could be along the line to hold back pressure from Ukraine. Or they could be across the river. We don’t know, but you can bet that the Ukrainian military does.
There are even Russian sites claiming that Kherson “will be surrendered” on Sunday. However, these reports, like the reports of the line falling apart in the north, are likely reactions to the news that Ukraine has entered Snihurivka. Every sign of Ukrainian advance in the last month has immediately generated over-the-top claims that Kherson was going to be liberated in days, if not hours.
One of these days, hopefully one of these days very soon, those reports are going to be true. However, there is no confirmation that this is that day. Still, things are changing. To coin a phrase … stay tuned.
For now, I am leaving all the positions in the north unchanged. In the south, Ukraine has advanced into Snihurivka, which I am marking as still in dispute. Below that, Ukraine has advanced east of Pravdyne, but I’m leaving that town and neighboring Soldatske as in dispute pending further information. If I see confirmation of any towns/cities being liberated, expect both updates and updated maps.
[END]
---
[1] Url:
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2022/11/9/2134748/-Ukraine-update-Front-lines-in-Kherson-reportedly-crumbling-as-Ukrainian-forces-enter-Snihurivka
Published and (C) by Daily Kos
Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified.
via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds:
gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/
