Outnumbered and outgunned, one front-line soldier has given a sobering account of Ukraine’s struggle to cling on to its foothold on the east bank of the vast Dnipro river.
Under relentless Russian fire, the soldier spent several weeks on the Russian-occupied side of the river as Ukraine sought to establish a bridgehead around the village of Krynky.
His account, sent via a messaging app, speaks of troop boats blown out of the water, inexperienced reinforcements and a feeling of abandonment by Ukraine’s military commanders.
Ukraine’s General Staff reported in its daily update on Sunday that its forces were maintaining their positions on the eastern bank of the Dnipro, and were inflicting “fire damage on the enemy’s rear”.
Ukraine’s commander-in-chief Gen Valery Zaluzhny told the Economist magazine in November that, “just like the First World War we have reached the level of technology that puts us into a stalemate.”
Ukraine’s military meanwhile says it wants to target Russian supply lines and force them back enough from the river to protect civilians from shelling.
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