A Russian self-propelled Msta-B howitzer has wiped out a Ukrainian drone crew hiding inside an abandoned building in Kherson, the Defense Ministry in Moscow reported on Wednesday.
The purported attack was captured in a video released by the military, showcasing what it claims is the ongoing battle in Kakhovka district, near a now-defunct dam on the Dnieper River.
On Monday, the Russian ministry published a similar clip, showing a smaller towable D-30 artillery gun striking a mortar position on the right bank of the river.
The Dnieper serves as a natural barrier between territories controlled by Moscow and Kiev, preventing close-range clashes or the capture of land by either side. Elsewhere on the front line, Russian forces are reportedly advancing at a rapid pace.
Earlier this week, Ukrainian newspaper Ukrainskaya Pravda published an expose documenting the challenges of cross-river operations by ground troops. It revealed new details about Kiev’s attempts to hold onto the village of Krynky, which is located on the left bank of the Dnieper, roughly 20km west of the Kakhovka dam. Kiev first sent forces to secure the foothold in autumn last year and maintained a presence there for months, until fully withdrawing in July.
The amphibious mission was backed by Britain, which trained Ukrainian marines for it and touted it as Ukraine’s answer to the Allied landing in Normandy during World War II. However, sources told the newspaper that it could not have succeeded.
”The ultimate goal was like going into space: reaching Crimea. We were told that we only need to break through the first line of defense… and there will be no second one,” they said.
In the end, Ukraine’s newly created Marine Corps had some initial successes, but didn’t receive as much artillery and logistical support as it was promised. By winter, the troops got bogged down in an unfavorable position that their commanders refused to abandon for months, the report claimed.
The story appears to support what Russian President Vladimir Putin said in March, when he accused Kiev of “sending men into the meatgrinder… just to get slaughtered” in Krynky.
Kiev does not publish details of military casualties, but Ukrainian media previously claimed that more than 700 troops had been reported missing in Krynky.