Kyiv troops have managed to secure positions on the Russian-controlled east bank of the Dnieper in the south of the country, the head of the Moscow-appointed occupation authority admitted on Wednesday, insisting that the Russian army is leading Ukrainian troops through “hell”. “. AFP.

If the Ukrainian army manages to break through the Russian lines in this direction, it would be a great success, while its large-scale June counteroffensive in other parts of the country did not have the desired results.

“About one and a half companies, divided into small groups, are in the area from the railway bridge to (the village of) Krynka,” said the leader of the occupied Kherson region, Volodymyr Saldo, who was the first Russian official to admit that Ukrainian troops were able to cross the Dnipro in this area.

A company can consist of dozens or hundreds of soldiers, according to the military glossary of the Russian news agency TASS.

Saldo tried to downplay the Ukrainian offensive, claiming that Russian reinforcements had been deployed and that Ukrainian forces had come under intense bombardment.

“Additional (Russian) forces have now been deployed. The enemy is stuck in Krynk, in a fiery hell: bombs, rockets, ammunition from thermobaric systems, artillery and drones are falling on the enemy,” he said in Telegram.

He claimed that they were causing heavy losses to Ukrainian troops.