Kherson-bound
Roaring and groaning, the Dnieper is wide
Today I finally got the go-ahead to work in Kherson so I’m headed there on Saturday. I’ll spend a few days there with medical personnel, officials, regular people, and hopefully with the military.
Kherson sits on the northeast bank of the Dnieper River as it meets the Black Sea. The Ukrainian military liberated Kherson just over a year ago after the Russian military captured it early on the war, forcing Russian forces back across the Dnieper toward Crimea.
Kherson and the surrounding towns and villages are well within range of Russian artillery and long-range weaponry and the Russian military has pounded the city since they were pushed out. The city is Ukraine’s primary organization point for its operations on and across the Dnieper, making it an even more of a target. No other major city in the country is getting hit as regularly and as hard as Kherson.
The Russian military has deeply fortified the left bank of Dnieper over the last year. The fertile and open land is now a complex web of minefields and trench systems that will be a nightmare for Ukraine to penetrate.
The military naturally has been hesitant to let journalists work in the area over security concerns. In all likelihood, I won’t be allowed close to the river or near military operations, but we’ll have to see how it goes on the ground.
It has been a relatively quiet couple of weeks in Odesa, thanks in part to overcast weather that makes it difficult for Russian Shahed drones to operate.
Instead, Russia is targeting port infrastructure on the Danube River, which separates Ukraine and Romania. On Wednesday, Russia launched 42 Shahed drones in several waves at targets across Odesa Oblast, which stretches to the Romanian border. Eleven civilians were injured, including three children, and there was damage to several buildings, according to Odesa Regional State Administration head Oleh Kiper. Half of those drones targeted Izmail, which sits on the Danube River bordering Romania. One explosion rang out in the city last night and that was likely a shot-down drone.
Kyiv was also hit hard this week. Russia launched 10 ballistic missile attacks in the early morning hours Wednesday. They were all shot down but 53 people were injured by the falling debris. Several homes were hit along with a childrens hospital.
There have been non-stop air raid alerts all day today, but so far no strikes in Odesa itself. The first alert this morning came when some MiG-31Ks and escort fighters took off from Russia toward Ukraine. MiG-31Ks are capable of delivering heavy munitions, including ballistic missiles. I’m not sure where they targeted, but generally speaking the whole country gets an alert when these sort of take-offs occur, since they could hit anywhere in Ukraine. I’m not sure what all the other alerts were for today, but some were for loitering munition attacks.