The person in charge of Ukraine’s counterattack in the south says that his forces have successfully entered Verbove. He also believes that there will be an even greater success in the near future.
“On the left side [near Verbove], we have made progress and are still moving forward,” Oleksandr Tarnavsky told CNN Senior International Correspondent Frederik Pleitgen in an interview on Friday. However, he admitted that his soldiers were not advancing as quickly as expected.
“He said that it didn’t happen as quickly as people thought and that it wasn’t like what is shown in movies about the Second World War. ” The most important thing is to not give up on this initiative that we have. And, um, to ensure that it doesn’t get forgotten, we need to take action.
The general’s statement shows that Ukrainian officials are making progress in the southern part of the war with Russia.
Recently, Ukrainian forces said they have made progress in getting past the first line of Russian strongholds in the Zaporizhzia region. This suggests that Kyiv is getting closer to the large network of reinforced trenches that Moscow has built along the southern front.
Officials chosen by Russia who are in control of Zaporizhzhia, a place that has been taken over by force, have described the fighting in a way that is different from what others are saying. CNN can not confirm the reports about what is happening on the battlefield from either side. But, from looking at videos that are freely available, it seems that some Ukrainian groups have managed to get past a significant part of the Russian defenses near the village of Verbove.
Ukraine wants to cut off Russia’s connection between the territory it has in the east and annexed Crimea.
I nearly September, Ukrainian forces claimed that they had captured the village of Robotyne and were now moving towards the village of Novoprokopivka in the east. The soldiers believed there would be fights to gain control of the higher areas in the south and east of the village as they moved closer to the next set of Russian defenses. Verbove is to the east of Robotyne, a few miles away.
However,according to Tarnavsky, the breakthrough in the counterattack would be if Ukraine manages to capture Tokmak, which is an important location for Russia. This is the main goal for Ukraine in the southern battle.
CNN said earlier this week that Ukrainian forces were still about 20 kilometers away from Tokmak and having a hard time over coming the many layers of Russian defenses.
“I think there will definitely be a major breakthrough,” Tarnavsky said. Right now, the Russians are depending on the strength of their defense.
Instead of focusing on the defensive line called the ‘Surovikinline’, which was ordered by General Sergey Surovikin during his time leading the Russian forces in Ukraine, Tarnavsky believes that the more important concerns are the intersections,rows of trees, and areas with landmines between the tree lines.
“He said that there are small groups of enemies who are skilled and strategically placed. ” However, our fighters make them retreat gradually when they encounter our attack teams.
The leader agreed that for the attack to work, Ukrainian soldiers have to get to the town of Tokmak.
“He said that Tokmak is the lowest target. ” The main goal is to reach the borders of our state.
Tarnavsky admitted that the progress wasn’t as quick as they had hoped, but he assured that the counteroffensive would not be affected by the winter season.
Heavy rain in the fall can make the ground in Ukraine wet and make it harder to move with big machines, like tanks. But Tarnavsky says Ukraine’s forces move in small groups, mostly by walking.
Tarnavsky said that the weather might make it difficult to move forward, but since they mostly don’t use vehicles, he doesn’t think it will have a big impact on their counterattack.
Currently,both the enemy and us don’t use big groups of soldiers like companies, battalions, or brigades. He said that we use assault squads, which are groups of 10 to 15 men. “They do a lot of important work by drawing the attention of the enemy towards them and using every resource they have to stay alive. “
The general said that one reason for the slow progress was that Russia learned from previous Ukrainian attacks.
The Russians are learning quickly because they have no other options. “If they do not learn, they will lose earlier,” he said. I don’t think they are adjusting to what we do,because we also change our plans.
He mentioned that Ukraine has been learning to use equipment and strategies from the West.
When Tarnavsky was asked about more and more people in the Western countries, especially in the US, being against giving weapons to Ukraine due to doubt about Ukraine’s ability to win, Tarnavsky said he understood their opinion.
Let the skeptics have their own opinion. He said that we don’t have a choice and it’s not a competition. I know that someone might have thought of doing big attacks to defend themselves. But things are different now, the ways enemies fight are different, and the tools they use are different too.
Our main focus is to free and regain control of our lands. No matter how difficult it is, we will continue to work. I want to thank even those who doubt us,because their criticism also helps us succeed,” he said.
He thanked the Western countries that support Ukraine and promised to take good care of the tanks and armored vehicles they provided.
Look at the destruction caused by Ukraine’s attack on the main building of Russia’s Black Sea fleet.
Wagner, in different places.
During the interview, the general also talked about how the mercenary group Wagner is doing right now.
He said that there are still some Wagner fighters appearing on the front line occasionally since their former boss, Yevgeny Prigozhin, died in a plane crash last month. Prigozhin had led a failed rebellion that was the biggest challenge to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s rule in a long time.
A agreement was made to calm down the crisis. It was supposed to send Prigozhin and his fighters to Belarus, but there are reports of Wagner fighters moving to Kherson instead.
When asked about those reports, Tarnavsky mentioned that he cannot confirm if they are coming from the Kherson region or our area or any other place, but they do exist in some places. The truth is that their badges can be seen in different places, and this has always been happening.
Tarnavsky said that his men often wondered if Wagner was around whenever their enemy started doing better.
“We think Wagner might be involved if we notice our offensive forces being stopped by a group of soldiers who are doing their job in a different and more exciting way,” he said. This makes you wonder: “Perhaps Wagner has arrived. ”
“But he said there is no such group in my part of the battlefield today. ” “About the direction to Kherson, I don’t know. ”
Ukraine recently attacked Russia’s Black Sea Fleet headquarters in Sevastopol, which is in the Crimean peninsula. Russia took control of this area in 2014, without following the laws.
Tarnavsky said to CNN that attacking Crimea is necessary for Kyiv’s counterattack to be successful.
He said that offensive operations need to destroy both enemy soldiers and important areas where they keep equipment and people. This can cause chaos in the battlefield.
The general said that capturing Crimea was really important because it would motivate Ukrainian forces and make them feel more confident.
“He said it supports us and also gives us encouragement for what lies ahead. ”