ISW: Russia will likely struggle to respond to ongoing Ukrainian operations in Kherson Oblast
The Russian military command will likely struggle to redeploy combat-effective reinforcements to respond to ongoing Ukrainian operations in eastern Kherson Oblast while conducting defensive operations elsewhere, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said in their latest report.
Russian military bloggers claimed on Nov. 9 that Ukrainian forces established control over new positions in the village of Krynky (30km northeast of Kherson City and 2km from the Dnipro River) and conducted assaults towards Russian positions south and southwest of the settlement.
Russian sources claimed that Ukrainian forces also attacked near Poyma (12km east of Kherson City and 4km from the Dnipro River), Pishchanivka (13km east of Kherson City and 3km from the Dnipro River), and Pidstepne (17km east of Kherson City and 4km from the Dnipro River) and are trying to establish positions between Pidstepne and Kozachi Laheri (23km northeast of Kherson and mere two kilometers from the Dnipro River).
Ukrainian military observer Konstyantyn Mashovets stated that Ukrainian forces have established continuous control of positions from the Antonivsky railway bridge north of Poyma to the Antonivsky roadway bridge north of Oleshky (7km south of Kherson and 4km from the Dnipro River) as of Nov. 9 and have cut the Oleshky-Nova Kakhovka (53km northeast of Kherson) road in at least two areas.
The ISW believes that the Russian command will likely face "significant challenges in redeploying units from other sectors of the front" should relatively combat-ineffective Russian formations and currently uncommitted Russian forces in the Kherson direction prove insufficient to respond to the Ukrainian operations on the east bank of the Dnipro.
