UK intelligence: Russian operations near islands in Kherson Oblast likely 'energized'

Russian operations around the islands of the lower Dnipro River in Kherson Oblast, which currently mark the front line, have likely been "energized" since being assumed by Russia's 40th Army Corps, the U.K. Defense Ministry said in its daily update on Sept. 16.

Heavy fighting has reportedly continued in the area through the first half of September.

Both Ukrainian and Russian forces have launched raids with groups in small boats against the islands and the opposite riverbanks.

According to the ministry, while the number of forces committed to the area are relatively small compared to other fronts, "both sides see the area as strategically important."

The area also reportedly serves as a means to "draw their adversary's units away from the intense combat in Zaporizhzhia and Donetsk oblasts."

The city of Kherson and other settlements in the region on the Dnipro River's west bank have been continuously subjected to Russian shelling since they were liberated by Ukrainian forces in November 2022.

Russia’s southern mistake — Surovikin lines, Gerasimov tactics

The Zaporizhzhia front has been abuzz with news of Ukrainians breaking through Russia’s first defensive line and chiseling away at a breach in the second. “They’re widening that breach at this stage to enable the flow of armored vehicles and logistics so they can exploit it,” Michael Kofman,

The Kyiv IndependentIgor Kossov