Although Kyiv claims that Ukrainian forces have established a bridgehead across the Dnipro, Ukrainian marines told The New York Times that these claims are exaggerated, as the military is dying in large numbers, often before even reaching the other side of the river.

In mid-November, the head of the administration of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky Andriy Yermak said that Ukrainian forces had secured a bridgehead in the Kherson region on the left bank of the Dnieper in southern Ukraine, Reuters reports.

Andrii Yermak’s statement was the first official recognition that Ukrainian troops had established themselves on the eastern bank of the Dnieper.

“Despite everything, the Defense Forces of Ukraine have established themselves on the left (eastern) bank of the Dnieper,” Yermak said during a speech at the American think tank Hudson Institute. His words were also published on Zelensky’s website.

“Step by step, they are demilitarizing Crimea. I covered 70% of the distance. And our counteroffensive is developing,” the official emphasized.

“This is a suicide mission”

But the Ukrainian official version contradicts the fact that Ukrainian marines are fighting on the Kherson front.

“There are no positions. There is not a single observation post or position there, Ukrainian military officer Oleksiy told the NYT, as quoted by Business Insider. – It is impossible to gain a foothold there. It is impossible to move equipment there.”

“It’s not even a fight for survival,” he also told the American publication. “It’s a suicide mission.”

There were also upbeat reports that Ukrainian forces had crossed the river in armored vehicles for the first time, and the Ukrainian military said it had established “several strongpoints”.

The increase in the number of casualties among the Ukrainian military

However, Ukrainian soldiers painted a grim picture, telling the NYT of harsh conditions, brutal fighting and mounting military casualties.

“I didn’t see anything like that in Bakhmut or Soledar,” Oleksii told the NYT, referring to the fiercest battles of the war.

The soldier says that troops arriving on the east bank for battle often had to step over the corpses of their comrades lying in the mud.

Deputy Commander Volodymyr said several dead Marines had been lying on the riverbank for two months due to heavy shelling, which made it difficult to retrieve the bodies.

Oleksiy criticized the Ukrainian command for poor training and logistics, which in some cases had to leave the wounded behind due to a lack of boats.

“The people who get there are not psychologically prepared,” he said. “They don’t even understand where they are going. They are not told by the team that sends them there.”

The soldiers who were sent to fight on the Dnieper cannot swim

Earlier this month, a Ukrainian soldier told the BBC that the marines sent to defend recent Ukrainian offensives on the Dnieper were so inexperienced they couldn’t even swim.

The military also claimed that Ukrainian forces are experiencing a serious shortage of equipment and reinforcements as they defend their positions, which are constantly under attack from Russia.

Despite the difficult conditions, the Ukrainian military and marines continue to fight on the Dnieper, and Russia has also suffered heavy losses.

The mission to cross the Ci River has the priority of eliminating as many Russian soldiers as possible and destroying Russian artillery, Yevgeny Karas, deputy commander of the 14th Regiment, told the NYT.

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