Russian-Occupied Kherson Cut Off as Ukraine Counter-Attacks, Says Britain

Smoke rises behind vessels on the Dnipro River during Ukraine-Russia conflict in the Russia-controlled city of Kherson, Ukraine July 24, 2022. (Reuters)
Smoke rises behind vessels on the Dnipro River during Ukraine-Russia conflict in the Russia-controlled city of Kherson, Ukraine July 24, 2022. (Reuters)
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Russian-Occupied Kherson Cut Off as Ukraine Counter-Attacks, Says Britain

Smoke rises behind vessels on the Dnipro River during Ukraine-Russia conflict in the Russia-controlled city of Kherson, Ukraine July 24, 2022. (Reuters)
Smoke rises behind vessels on the Dnipro River during Ukraine-Russia conflict in the Russia-controlled city of Kherson, Ukraine July 24, 2022. (Reuters)

A Ukrainian counter-offensive has virtually cut off the Russian-occupied southern city of Kherson and left thousands of Russian troops stationed near the Dnipro River "highly vulnerable", British defense and intelligence officials said on Thursday.

Ukraine has made clear it intends to recapture Kherson, which fell to Russia in the early days of the invasion launched by Russian President Vladimir Putin on Feb 24.

Britain's Defense Ministry said Ukrainian forces have probably established a bridgehead south of the Ingulets River, and had used new, long-range artillery to damage at least three of the bridges crossing the Dnipro.

"Russia's 49th Army, stationed on the west bank of the Dnipro River, now looks highly vulnerable," it said in a regular intelligence bulletin on Twitter, adding that Kherson was virtually cut off from the other territories occupied by Russia.

"Its loss would severely undermine Russia's attempts to paint the occupation as a success."

Oleksiy Danilov, secretary of Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council, earlier tweeted that Russia was concentrating "the maximum number of troops" in the direction of the Kherson but gave no details.

Oleksiy Arestovych, an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said Russia was conducting a "massive redeployment" of forces from the east to the south in what amounted to a strategic shift from attack to defense.

Zelenskiy said Ukraine would rebuild the Antonivskyi bridge over the Dnipro and other crossings in the region.

"We are doing everything to ensure that the occupying forces do not have any logistical opportunities in our country," he said in a Wednesday evening address.

Russian officials had earlier said they would turn instead to pontoon bridges and ferries to get forces across the river.

Russian-backed forces on Wednesday said they had captured the Soviet-era coal-fired Vuhlehirsk power plant, Ukraine's second-largest, in what was Moscow's first significant gain in more than three weeks.

Diplomacy

Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24 in what Moscow calls a "special military operation" to demilitarize and "denazify" its neighbor. Ukraine and its allies call the invasion an unprovoked war of aggression.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he planned a phone conversation with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov - the first between the two diplomats since before the start of the war.

The call in the coming days would not be "a negotiation about Ukraine," Blinken said at a news conference, restating Washington's position that any talks on ending the war must be between Kyiv and Moscow.

Russia has received no formal request from Washington about a phone call between Blinken and Lavrov, TASS news agency reported.

The United States has made "a substantial offer" to Russia for it to release US citizens WNBA star Brittney Griner and former US Marine Paul Whelan, Blinken said, without giving details of what the United States was offering in return.

Blinken said he would press Lavrov to respond to the offer.

A source familiar with the situation confirmed a CNN report that Washington was willing to exchange Russian arms trafficker Viktor Bout, who is serving a 25 year-prison sentence in the United States, as part of a deal.

Aside from discussing Americans detained by Russia, Blinken said he would raise with Lavrov the tentative deal on grain exports reached last week between Russia, the United States, Turkey and Ukraine.

Russia reduced gas flows to Europe on Wednesday in an energy stand-off with the European Union. It has blocked grain exports from Ukraine since invading, but on Friday agreed to allow deliveries through the Black Sea to Turkey's Bosphorus Strait and on to global markets.

The deal was almost immediately thrown into doubt when Russia fired cruise missiles at Odesa, Ukraine's largest port, on Saturday, just 12 hours after the deal was signed.

Before the invasion and subsequent sanctions, Russia and Ukraine accounted for nearly a third of global wheat exports.



7 more Turkish Soldiers Die from Methane Gas in Iraqi Cave, Raising Deaths to 12

FILE PHOTO: A Turkish flag flies on a passenger ferry with the Bosphorus in the background in Istanbul, Türkiye, January 27, 2020. REUTERS/Murad Sezer
FILE PHOTO: A Turkish flag flies on a passenger ferry with the Bosphorus in the background in Istanbul, Türkiye, January 27, 2020. REUTERS/Murad Sezer
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7 more Turkish Soldiers Die from Methane Gas in Iraqi Cave, Raising Deaths to 12

FILE PHOTO: A Turkish flag flies on a passenger ferry with the Bosphorus in the background in Istanbul, Türkiye, January 27, 2020. REUTERS/Murad Sezer
FILE PHOTO: A Turkish flag flies on a passenger ferry with the Bosphorus in the background in Istanbul, Türkiye, January 27, 2020. REUTERS/Murad Sezer

Seven more Turkish soldiers have died from methane gas poisoning following a cave search operation in northern Iraq, Türkiye's Defense Ministry said Monday, bringing the death toll to 12. The soldiers had been searching for the remains of a fellow soldier previously killed by Kurdish militants.

The troops were searching a mountain cave when 19 of them were exposed to the gas, according to the ministry. Five of the soldiers died Sunday from the colorless, odorless, flammable gas that can cause asphyxiation in sufficient concentration, and seven more succumbed on Monday, Reuters reported.

“We pray for God’s mercy upon our heroic martyrs who lost their lives in this tragic event,” the ministry said Monday, also expressing hope for a rapid recovery for other troops that were affected.

It said Defense Minister Yasar Guler and armed forces' commanders were traveling to the region to carry out “inspections and evaluations” and attend a ceremony as the soldiers were flown to their hometowns for burial.

Speaking at the ceremony, Guler commended the troops' “great courage and sacrifice,” adding: “Our grief is immense and our feelings are beyond words.”

The ministry said the incident took place in the “Claw-Lock Operation region” — a reference to an operation launched against the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, in northern Iraq in April 2022.

There was no immediate information on the condition of the seven other soldiers who were affected by the gas.

Türkiye and the PKK have waged a 40-year conflict that has often spilled over into Iraq and Syria. Türkiye has set up a series of bases in northern Iraq, where the PKK has been established for decades.

The PKK, which is considered a terrorist organization by Türkiye and most of the West, announced in May that it would disband and renounce armed conflict as part of a new peace initiative with Türkiye.

Its fighters are expected to begin handing over their weapons over the next few days in the first concrete move toward disarmament.

According to the ministry, the Turkish unit overcome by methane gas had been searching for the remains of an infantry officer killed by “terrorist gunfire” during a search-and-clear mission in May 2022. Recovery teams have been scouring the area for the past three years.

The cave where the incident occurred sits at an altitude of 852 meters (2,795 feet) and had previously been used by the PKK as a field hospital.