Ukraine ticker. Kiev deceives Russia with wooden dummies +++, Kiev hides information.

There are various reports of successful Ukrainian counteroffensives in the Kherson region. The city on the right bank of the Dnipro River was captured by Russian troops advancing from the Crimean peninsula at the start of the invasion in February. Politically, Ukraine is under time pressure as Russia seeks to annex captured territories and prepares for referendums in September.

According to the southern group of the Ukrainian army, units of Donetsk separatists and Russian marines were forced to retreat. More exact locations are not given. US broadcaster CNN, citing Ukrainian military sources, reported that four villages near Cherson, including Pravdyn, had been captured. The information has not been verified first.

According to Russian reports, two crossings over the Dnipro near Antonivka and Nova Kachovska were fired back. With such attacks, the Ukrainian military has been trying for some time to cut off supplies to the large Russian bridgehead on the right bank of the Dnipro. Explosions were reported from Cherson and the Russian-occupied city of Melitopol.

The Defense Ministry in Moscow confirmed the Ukrainian attacks in the Kherson and Mykolayiv regions, but said they had “failed miserably”. The Ukrainian army suffered heavy losses in soldiers and technology. There is no evidence for this. Reports from occupation officials, assuring them that nothing had happened, caused nervousness on the Russian side. The alleged attack was “a bogus Ukrainian campaign as usual,” said Sergei Aksyonov, head of Crimea’s administration.

Russian nationalist and former separatist field commander Igor Girkin confirmed the attacks on Telegram. However, so far, they are intended only as a demonstration, and Ukraine has yet to deploy its main forces. Pentagon officials came to a similar conclusion, speaking of “scanning” the front, according to CNN.