Ukraine’s counteroffensive in the south of the Kherson region has begun its fifth day, the Kyiv armed forces are launching Bayraktar TB2 drones into battle and are striking new Russian supply points.

Kherson counteroffensive, 5th dayPhoto: video shooting

The information that appeared in the Ukrainian press and social networks on Friday was even less than in previous days, in the context that Volodymyr Zelenskyi’s office had requested since the beginning of the week, when newspapers in Kyiv announced that the long-awaited counteroffensive had begun , a “media blackout” to avoid the inadvertent release of information that could be used by Russian defenders.

The Southern Operational Command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported in the morning that its aircraft carried out 18 strikes on Russian command posts, logistical and transport facilities, as well as ammunition and fuel depots.

“The destruction of the enemy’s stocks and reserves, the destruction of roadblocks and the attack on transport routes continue. The enemy army is mostly demoralized but holding on desperately,” he says.

As in previous days, the Russian state media and the military command in Moscow remain almost completely silent about the Ukrainian shelling in Kherson. The Russian Defense Ministry announced on Monday evening that the Ukrainian operation launched here had failed, claiming that Russian forces had inflicted heavy losses on the attackers.

TASS, perhaps Russia’s best-known state-run news agency, still announced early Friday that “about five powerful explosions took place in Melitopol overnight,” but claimed that the city’s air defenses were working despite the explosions.

The Ukrainian mayor of Melitopol, the first major city to be captured by Russian forces since the start of the “special forces operation” on February 24, said that the target of the attack was a Russian army ammunition depot.

Ivan Fedorov said that the missiles “hit so accurately” that the ammunition continued to explode several hours after the strikes, Ukrainian Pravda reports. Several videos of explosions appeared on social networks:

The city of Melitopol is in neighboring Zaporizhia Oblast, and Ukrainian strikes there suggest its forces are trying to prevent Russian forces in Kherson from resupplying ammunition from the eastern axis of the theater of operations after shelling Kherson bridges in recent days.

In Kherson, Ukrainians struck from Bayraktar drones

Other videos that have surfaced on social media show the famous Bayraktar TB2 drones being used to support the Kherson Oblast offensive, despite reports in late June that the Ukrainians had halted operations with these drones due to increased Russian air defenses.

#Ukraine: Although the Bayraktar TB-2 is often used against Russian HVTs (artillery, fuel/ammunition depots, EW equipment), they can move freely enough to target smaller targets; such as this 2B11 120mm mortar and supply truck brought out today during the #Kherson offensive operation.

By the way, in a video released on August 22, it can be seen that the Ukrainian Armed Forces sent the Bayraktar TB2 “Vanagas” (“Hawk”) drone received for free from the Turkish manufacturer into attack after the Lithuanians collected the necessary amount for its purchase with the help of crowdfunding.

In addition, several photos that appeared on Russian Telegram channels at the beginning of August also showed that the invading forces managed to shoot down a Bayraktar drone in southern Ukraine, bought by Kyiv before the start of the war. In addition to showing that the Ukrainians are still using these drones in offensive operations, the images also show their incredible durability.

A separate video that appeared on social media late Thursday showed a Bayraktar drone used in the Kherson offensive destroying a 2C3 Acacia 152mm self-propelled howitzer, with the administrators of the Ukraine Weapons Tracker page noting that the drones are now being used in tandem with hits from HARM anti-radar missiles.

Ukraine’s armed forces released video footage of its pilots launching the type of missile for the first time on Tuesday, a day after Russian state media said Ukraine had run out of military pilots.

The Russian army is trying to send reinforcements through Crimea

Russian troops responded with rocket fire from the southern bank of the Dnieper toward Mykolaiv, the largest city north of Kherson, controlled by Ukraine, in an attempt to disrupt the logistics of the offensive.

Currently, information about Russian forces is limited, but RFE/RL journalists have obtained video footage showing a large convoy of Russian trucks on the Tavri highway heading toward the Kerch Bridge, which connects mainland Russia with Crimea.

It is quite likely that these reinforcements will be for the Kherson front. However, it will be difficult for the Russians to get them to the front lines after Ukrainian forces bombed all the bridges in the region to cut off the invading forces from their supply lines.

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