MOSCOW: Russia’s army has that it thwarted a Ukrainian attempt to forge a bridgehead on the eastern bank of the River Dnipro and on nearby area islands, killing about 500 Ukrainian soldiers in the past week, Western media reported on Friday.
Russian defense ministry statement and said the fighting took place in the Kherson area of southern Ukraine.
It added that personnel from a motorized rifle company in the Russian military destroyed servicemen from a unit of Ukraine’s 36th Marine Infantry brigade on 9 November while they were trying to gain a foothold on the bank of the Dnipro River.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky during an interview with Reuters on Wednesday said that Ukraine’s counter-offensive was making some gradual progress in the south and east.
The US-based Institute for the Study of War has said that Ukraine seemed to have carried out assaults across the Dnipro in Kherson region in mid-October.
According to the latest Russian statement its forces had killed most of the Ukrainian soldiers in the November 9 incident while taking 11 as prisoners. Russian has been giving state awards to soldieries for showing courage and heroism through Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu.
The statement said the recent incident shows multiple Ukrainian unsuccessful attempts to seize a bridgehead on the islands and on the eastern bank of the Dnipro.
It said that due to active pre-emptive actions of Russian troops and artillery fire, the enemy’s losses during the week reached up to 505 servicemen. It said 18 field artillery guns, 15 boats and 25 vehicles were also destroyed in the skirmish.
