publication time: 26/10/2022 – 15:55
The battle for Kherson is imminent: Ukrainian troops are preparing for the “hardest battle”, said a Ukrainian presidential adviser, adding: “No one is ready to retreat”.
Agence France-Presse reported on October 26 from the road to Kherson that the Ukrainians were moving towards the city of Kherson from two directions. One of the longer routes starts from the industrial city of Kryvyï Rig and passes through several villages, most of which are still under Russian control. There is a shorter route along the “M14” motorway directly to Kherson.
The 40-kilometer line from the Ukrainian-controlled town of Mykolaïv to the Russian-occupied city of Kherson forms the backbone of Kyiv’s force offensive to rejoin the Sea of Azov and disrupt Russia’s access to Crimea.
The war was dominated by the Ukrainian elite forces, supported by a motley army of volunteers. Volunteers commute back and forth on the two-lane road with little protection from drones and Russian warplanes. Many people were cursing or complaining along the way.
On the road to Kherson in southern Ukraine, two old friends were reminiscing about their time as truck drivers before the Russian invasion, an AFP report said. They are now on the front lines of a great battle.
The next stage of this war, the battle for the Russian-occupied city of Kherson, will probably depend on the fighting spirit of soldiers like these two friends, as well as on the fighting spirit of their commanders (a former office supervisor).
However, the two former lorry drivers said they had “no objection to going home”. Because “the conditions here are not very good”. The 51-year-old soldier known as “Uncle” said: “We went like this under fire and then came back here under fire.
Surrounded by fields of withered sunflowers, there was nowhere to hide from Russian bombs and missiles that could fall at any moment. The Ukrainians had just fired their artillery and were preparing for an almost inevitable Russian response.
AFP said the commander, Major Mihailo, was a thin, educated man who used to work in an office and had no combat experience before the Russian invasion. Wet his eyes as he talks about the huge support his troops have received from the few Ukrainian civilians who have yet to flee. The 41-year-old head man smiled shyly: “They provide us with fruit, vegetables … we don’t need them,” but “it’s nice to know that our neighbors, our friends, their children, are all supportive of us.” .
But his face turned serious when he began to count the weapons that Ukraine still needed to finally push the Russians back. “It is very difficult to hit a tank with an automatic rifle,” he said.
Major Mihailo calculated the weapons their troops would need to fight without exposing them to retaliatory fire. And the frustration of incompatible weapons has been there since the early days of the war.
AFP said Washington’s decision to begin supplying long-range missiles at the end of May shifted the balance of power, allowing the Ukrainians to launch a counter-offensive in the northeast. But the Russians used most of their remaining troops to defend Kherson.
