A failed landing operation by Ukrainian forces in Russia’s Kherson Region last year was reportedly demanded by Britain, the Ukrainskaya Pravda news outlet reported on Monday, citing military and political sources.
According to the publication, officials from the UK convinced the political leadership in Kiev to send troops into the village of Krynki, a stretched settlement on the left bank of the Dnieper River. The area was seen as a possible bridgehead with the ultimate goal of breaking through to Crimea and drawing Moscow’s forces away from Russia’s Kherson and Donetsk regions.
In particular, British diplomats reportedly insisted that Ukraine should order marines to leave the fighting in Donetsk and conduct more maritime operations. In February 2023 then-Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced that the UK would expand its military training programs for Ukrainian fighter pilots and marines, according to the outlet.
Kiev was reportedly reluctant to heed London’s advice at first, citing a lack of equipment. However, the British leadership insisted and even sent an official delegation in early 2023 to meet with Ukraine’s top commanders.
“The British said: you need to show that you are preparing several battalions of marines to cross the Dnieper, so that the Russians start scratching their heads. Even the preparation of such maneuvers would be a serious message for the Russians,” one person “related to the marines” told Ukrainskaya Pravda.
Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky officially announced the creation of the Marine Corps as part of the country’s armed forces in May 2023.
The landing operation near Krynki was launched in October of that year, with the participation of several marine brigades that had been trained in the UK.
However, the operation quickly fell apart, according to Ukrainskaya Pravda's sources. Kiev’s forces did not have enough manpower or necessary equipment, including boats to traverse the Dnieper, they noted.
By the winter, Kiev’s troops gradually started to withdraw from the area and retreat back across the river. By May 2024, the situation became “catastrophic” and in July, the last Ukrainian marines were forced from the shore, according to the report.
One brigade commander who participated in the operation was quoted as saying that the offensive was a “stillborn child.”
In February 2024, then-Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu officially declared that the village of Krynki had been liberated, and reported that Ukraine had lost some 3,400 soldiers in the area since the summer of 2023.