Military: Russia trying to regain control of Nestryha Island in Kherson Oblast

Russian forces have launched repeated assaults in an attempt to retake the recently liberated Nestryha Island in Kherson Oblast, a military official said on May 6.

Speaking on national television, Dmytro Pletenchuk, a spokesperson for the Southern Defense Forces, said Moscow's troops had tried unsuccessfully to storm Ukrainian positions three times, losing four tanks in the process.

Fierce fighting has been ongoing on the Russian-held east bank of the Dnipro River in Kherson Oblast for months, where Ukrainian forces have established limited footholds and managed to hold them for months.

On April 28, Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi said Ukrainian troops had taken control of Nestryha Island and advanced near the village of Veletenske.

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Located in the Dnipro River delta in Kherson Oblast, Pletenchuk previously said Nestryha Island is "tactically important" as Russian forces had been using it to launch attacks on Ukrainian positions.

The village of Krynky, currently under Ukrainian control, is heavily-fought over. On May 6, Pletenchuk said Russian forces had attacked the village twice, dropping six guided bombs on the area during the morning.

In February, Russia falsely claimed it had seized the Ukrainian bridgehead in the village of Krynky.

Ukrainian soldiers storming eastern bank of Dnipro fear their mission is hopeless

Editor’s note: Full names and the deployment locations of the soldiers interviewed for this story are not disclosed since they weren’t authorized to speak to the press. KHERSON OBLAST – Mortars are the first things that greet the Ukrainian soldiers who are lucky enough to make it across the Dnipro

The Kyiv IndependentAsami Terajima