There was a faint tremor in the marine’s voice as he recounted the murderous preventing on the east financial institution of the Dnipro River, the place he was wounded not too long ago.
“We were sitting in the water at night and we were shelled by everything,” the marine, Maksym, mentioned. “My comrades were dying in front of my eyes.”
For two months, Ukraine’s Marine Corps has been spearheading an assault throughout the Dnipro River in the southern area of Kherson to recapture territory from Russian troops. The operation is Ukraine’s newest try in its flagging counteroffensive to breach Russian defenses in the south and switch the tide of the conflict.
Soldiers and marines who’ve taken half in the river crossings described the offensive as brutalizing and futile, as waves of Ukrainian troops have been struck down on the river banks or in the water, even earlier than they attain the different aspect.
Conditions are so tough, a half-dozen males concerned in the preventing mentioned in interviews, that in most locations, there may be nowhere to dig in. The first approaches are usually marshy islands threaded with rivulets or meadows which have grow to be a quagmire of mud and bomb craters full of water.
The troopers and marines gave solely their first names or requested for anonymity for safety causes, and commanders declined virtually all media requests to go to navy models in the Kherson area.
Several troopers and marines spoke to journalists out of concern about the excessive casualties and what they mentioned have been overly optimistic accounts from officers about the progress of the offensive.
The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine mentioned that it was not instantly potential to remark on the troopers’ accusations however that it might present a response in due course.
Some of the heaviest preventing has been in the village of Krynky, on the east financial institution 20 miles upriver from Kherson metropolis, the place Ukrainian troops seized a slender strip of fishermen’s homes — the solely place the place they managed to determine a toehold.
But footage of the space, livestreamed from a drone and seen by The New York Times, verified troopers’ accounts of heavy Russian airstrikes which have destroyed the homes and turned the river financial institution right into a mass of mud and splintered bushes.
Fresh troops arriving on the east financial institution need to step on troopers’ our bodies that lie tangled in the churned mud, mentioned Oleksiy, an skilled soldier who fought in Krynky in October and has since crossed a number of instances to assist evacuate the wounded.
Some of the useless marines have been mendacity there for so long as two months, as models have been unable to retrieve the our bodies due to the intense shelling, mentioned Volodymyr, a deputy firm commander who was attending the funeral of one among his males, recognized solely as Denys, final week.
“The left bank is very difficult,” Volodymyr mentioned. “Those who do it are the real heroes, men with great will power.”
With Ukraine’s counteroffensive slowed down and the United States and even the European Union exhibiting indicators of chopping again assist, the cross-river offensive has been keenly watched for indicators that Ukraine can regain momentum in opposition to Russian forces. The hope is that they’ll create a breakthrough deep sufficient to threaten Russia’s provide routes and its maintain in the south. The Marine Corps, rebuilt to full power this 12 months with a number of newly fashioned brigades, was assigned the activity.
Since the conflict’s outset, Ukrainian officers have sought to keep up a optimistic narrative in an effort to keep up morale at house and help overseas. Casualty numbers aren’t revealed, nor are particulars of setbacks suffered by Ukrainian troops.
In the case of the Dnipro, President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine and different officers have instructed not too long ago that the marines have gained a foothold on the jap financial institution. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs posted a statement final month claiming that they had established a number of strongholds.
But marines and troopers who’ve been there say these accounts overstate the case.
“There are no positions. There is no such thing as an observation post or position,” mentioned Oleksiy. “It is impossible to gain a foothold there. It’s impossible to move equipment there.”
“It’s not even a fight for survival,” he added. “It’s a suicide mission.”
Oleksiy mentioned the Ukrainian commanders’ poor preparation and logistics had decimated his battalion. Wounded males have been being left behind due to a scarcity of boats, he mentioned, and the brutal situations have been degrading morale and troopers’ help for one another.
“People who end up there are not prepared psychologically,” he mentioned. “They don’t even understand where they are going. They are not told by the command that sends them there.”
Oleksiy agreed to let The Times publish his account out of frustration at the losses. “I did not see anything like this in Bakhmut or Soledar,” he mentioned, referring to 2 of the most intense battles on the jap entrance. “It’s so wasteful.”
Russian airstrikes alongside the river banks marked on the Ukraine Control Map, which geolocates video footage of strikes on either side of the entrance, affirm his description. The map reveals heavy Russian aerial bombardment of a number of crossing factors alongside a 40-mile stretch of the river.
Russian troops are taking heavy losses, too, by a number of accounts. The map particulars a number of hits by Ukrainian artillery, rockets and drones on Russian troops and armor in all of the most important settlements alongside the jap financial institution. The metropolis of Kherson has come below repeated Russian assault, nevertheless it additionally resounds with the fixed firing of Ukrainian artillery.
“Generally, we are on hunting duty,” mentioned Yevhen Karas, 36, deputy commander of the 14th Separate Regiment, who was visiting one among his models working drones in opposition to Russian targets throughout the river. He requested for the location not be revealed for safety causes.
“The main priority is Russian artillery and to defend our operations,” mentioned Karas, whose surname can be his navy name signal. After two months of operations, he mentioned, the Russian models in the space and long-range artillery had been closely suppressed. Russian troops have been typically staying below cowl throughout the day and moved solely at night time consequently, he mentioned.
Karas headed a volunteer navy group, C14, from 2014, which has been described as excessive right-wing by watchdog teams. In 2016 it was built-in as a particular operations power in the Ukrainian military.
The marines have been struggling, Karas mentioned, however the Ukrainian assaults had unnerved Russian commanders, who introduced again an airborne unit from the Zaporizhzhia entrance to bolster the protection.
“They are very scared that Ukraine this month, or in the spring or the summer, will increase its territory to expand and liberate” the east financial institution, he mentioned, including that he adopted radio intercepts of Russian communications, amongst different sources of intelligence.
Even small territorial positive factors would give Ukraine the means to strike Russia’s provide routes into Crimea, he mentioned. But for now, the cross-river operation was targeted not on a breakthrough however on drawing in and killing as many Russian troops as potential, he mentioned.
Drones have been proving important in that struggle, offering reconnaissance and guiding artillery, whereas more and more focusing on troops and gear with explosives. A kamikaze drone was cheaper and extra correct than costly artillery shells, that are in more and more brief provide, mentioned the unit commander, Dzhmil, 37, giving his name signal.
“We read the papers and we know who is helping us and that everything has its price,” he mentioned, referring to rising debates in the United States and Europe over assist to Ukraine. This week the risk of future assist cuts solely deepened, as Mr. Zelensky’s efforts to rally help in the European Union and the U.S. Congress have been rebuffed.
Ukrainian artillery and drone models have been nicely positioned alongside the river’s western financial institution, which has the benefit of getting greater elevation than the jap financial institution and permits entry to provides, electrical energy and logistics, Karas mentioned.
Yet if Russian artillery has been suppressed in some areas, its forces have retaliated with devastating aerial bombardment, rocket strikes and a mess of drones.
The marine Maksym, who was recovering in the hospital after being wounded in Krynky in November, mentioned Russian airstrikes and tank, artillery and mortar fireplace have been so intense that his platoon couldn’t advance from the basements the place the troopers had first taken shelter.
After three males have been killed in an airstrike, the platoon was ordered to evacuate. It became a chaotic and disastrous retreat. The troopers got here below shell fireplace as they made their method to the river financial institution in the darkish, solely to be informed upon arrival that they must wait for 3 hours for boats to choose them up.
“It was a swamp, all in craters filled with water,” Maksym mentioned, including, “We had no choice but to try to dig in as deep as we could.”
“Everyone was already wounded by that time,” he mentioned. A ship got here, on a special mission, and took the most severely wounded.
As they waited for extra boats, Russian planes bombed the river financial institution, with three glide bombs, huge half-ton explosives that gouged nice holes in the earth.
Another boat arrived and took away 5 extra wounded males. Maksym needed to wait one other 40 minutes for the subsequent boat.
“The left bank was like purgatory,” he mentioned. “You are not dead yet, but you don’t feel alive.”
Of the 10 males in his platoon, half have been useless or lacking, he mentioned. “Not a single one survived without injury,”
