Dnipro Left Bank Landing Operation: Ukrainian Forces Change Course Of War

Ukrainian marines landed north of Oleshky, confusing all the plans of invaders.

The daily report of the Institute for the Study of War (US) (ISW) states that units of the Ukrainian Marine Corps broke through the Russian defences, occupying Poima and positions near Pischanivka north of Oleshky.

What is the significance of the breakthrough of the Russian defence on the left bank of the Kherson region? Captain 1st rank Pavlo Lakiychuk, the head of military programs Strategy XXI at the Center for Global Studies explained it on the air of Apostrophe TV.

– We can’t say much about this since Ukrainian official sources are silent. If you follow Russian bloggers, then for the second day they have been reporting that allegedly units of the 35th and 36th Marine Brigades landed on the left bank of the Dnipro River in the area of the railway bridge and a bridgehead has already been created there.

That seems to be true. This is not the first time that the Ukrainian troops have carried out a probing action there. There were attempts further south, then in the Oleshky area, a little to the north, and now the focus of their attention is moving further north.

The fact is that the Dnipro River became a little smaller in that place after the Russians blew up the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant and it became possible to cross it.

Why is this so important? If serious fighting breaks out there, they will pull part of the enemy forces away from the Zaporizhzhia region. There is also an interesting detail that earlier the enemy from the left bank of Kherson transferred their reserve troops to the Zaporizhzhia region. The positions of the Russians in that area are not very powerful right now.

Islands in the Dnipro Delta

The fact is that the islands give a certain head start in terms of distance. Islands are often used for mortar battery positions, greatly increasing the range of artillery fire to the opposite shore. This is the first one.

The second point. The creation of a bridgehead on one bank or another cannot be carried out if one does not secure oneself along the Dnipro bed and does not drive the enemy out of these areas of the Dnipro islands. This is an important factor both for conducting reconnaissance and sabotage actions and for landing operations.