Ukrainian troops recaptured four villages near the city of Kherson, which is temporarily occupied by the Russians, a Ukrainian military source told CNN. Their main “target” is Kherson, the source added.

“The operation began at night with a massive bombardment of Russian positions and behind” Russian positions, said the source, whom CNN is not naming for security reasons.

“The main direction of the attack was on the village of Pravdyne. We hit their DNR and RPL infantry, and they ran away,” a source told CNN.

“Now we have liberated four villages. Their first line of defense was breached in three places,” a military source said.

The source reported that the liberated villages are called Nova Dmytrivka, Arkhangelske, Tomina Balka and Pravdyne.

“Many of them died or were captured, and a lot of military equipment [rusești] [au fost distruse]”.

“Let’s see how things will go. Our goal is Kherson,” the source said.

The Russian Ministry of Defense acknowledged that the Ukrainian counteroffensive was ongoing, but claimed that it was a failure, noting that “26 Ukrainian tanks, 23 BMPs, 9 other armored personnel carriers and 2 aircraft were shot down by Su-25 attack aircraft.”

At the same time, the Antoniv bridge was reported to have been fired upon again, according to images on social media and Unian.net, which notes that at least 8 explosions were heard in Russian-occupied Kherson, and Ukrainians said they had launched a counteroffensive to retake territory seized by Russian forces. .