Ukraine plans ‘systematic grinding’ of Putin army to take Kherson: official

As Ukraine seeks to reclaim Kherson — a city Russia has occupied since the beginning of its invasion — Ukraine’s strategy involves “the systematic razing of Putin’s army,” said an aide to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

In conversation with That Wall Street Journal Oleksiy Arestovych, released on Saturday, said there was “no rush” to retake the city and that Ukrainian forces are trying to “uncover their operational logistic supply system and destroy it with artillery and artillery when it comes to taking the attack Russians [HIMARS].”

HIMARs, or High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, have been made available to Ukraine by the United States in recent months as a tool to counter Russia on the battlefield. A senior US military official said this week that HIMARs have caused morale to drop among Russian troops.

Justin Conelli, a senior US Air Force fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security, said in an interview published by the Council on Thursday that he expected Ukraine’s strategy in Kherson to “include operations aimed at further weakening defenses and supply lines than a full-fledged conventional raid to retake territory.”

Conelli added that a successful operation in Ukraine “would mean that Ukrainian forces would have lasting effects by crippling Russia’s ability to resupply its forces in Kherson.”

“The US-supplied High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) were very effective in destroying bridges, effectively cutting off Russian forces closer to the line of contact and allowing the Ukrainians to mount the real counteroffensive,” he said.

Kherson was the first major city to fall under Russian occupation after the invasion of Ukraine began in late February.

“Retaking the occupied territory of Kherson province on the west bank of the Dnieper would be a great psychological and political win for Kyiv,” said Peter Rutland, professor of Russian, Eastern European and Eurasian studies at Wesleyan University news week late last month. He added that regaining the territory “would be a great psychological and political win for Kyiv”.

Ukrainian political scientist Ihor Reiterovych told NV Radio last month that returning Kherson to Ukraine would mean a significant loss for the Kremlin.

“It would indeed be a colossal blow to them in terms of their overall prospects in this war they are waging against Ukraine and Russia’s ability to win it,” he said, according to The New Voice of Ukraine.

news week has reached out to the Russian Defense Ministry for comment.