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1. Ukrainian Marines on ‘Suicide Mission’ in Crossing the Dnipro River

   Soldiers frustrated by positive reports from Ukrainian officials break their silence, describing the effort as brutalizing and, ultimately, futile.

   There was a faint tremor in the marine’s voice as he recounted the murderous fighting on the east bank of the Dnipro River, where he was wounded recently.

   “We were sitting in the water at night and we were shelled by everything,” the marine, Maksym, said. “My comrades were dying in front of my eyes.”

   For two months, Ukraine’s Marine Corps has been spearheading an assault across the Dnipro River in the southern region of Kherson to recapture territory from Russian troops. The operation is Ukraine’s latest attempt in its flagging counteroffensive to breach Russian defenses in the south and turn the tide of the war.

   Soldiers and marines who have taken part in the river crossings described the offensive as brutalizing and futile, as waves of Ukrainian troops have been struck down on the river banks or in the water, even before they reach the other side.

   Conditions are so difficult, a half-dozen men involved in the fighting said in interviews, that in most places, there is nowhere to dig in. The first approaches tend to be marshy islands threaded with rivulets or meadows that have become a quagmire of mud and bomb craters filled with water.

   The soldiers and marines gave only their first names or asked for anonymity for security reasons, and commanders declined almost all media requests to visit military units in the Kherson region.

   Several soldiers and marines spoke to journalists out of concern about the high casualties and what they said were overly optimistic accounts from officials about the progress of the offensive.

   The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said that it was not immediately possible to comment on the soldiers’ accusations but that it would provide a response in due course.

   Some of the heaviest fighting has been in the village of Krynky, on the east bank 20 miles upriver from Kherson city, where Ukrainian troops seized a narrow strip of fishermen’s houses — the only place where they managed to establish a toehold.

   But footage of the area, livestreamed from a drone and seen by The New York Times, verified soldiers’ accounts of heavy Russian airstrikes that have destroyed the houses and turned the river bank into a mass of mud and splintered trees.

   Fresh troops arriving on the east bank have to step on soldiers’ bodies that lie tangled in the churned mud, said Oleksiy, an experienced soldier who fought in Krynky in October and has since crossed multiple times to help evacuate the wounded.

   Some of the dead marines have been lying there for as long as two months, as units have been unable to retrieve the bodies because of the intense shelling, said Volodymyr, a deputy company commander who was attending the funeral of one of his men, identified only as Denys, last week.

   “The left bank is very difficult,” Volodymyr said. “Those who do it are the real heroes, men with great will power.”

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   • The NYT is not a fully trustworthy source when it comes to Ukraine. If the Ukrainian marines were really encountering such conditions in general, then they would never be able to hold on to what they’ve taken, and this for such a long time, not to mention to gain ground occasionally. Besides that, there will always be difficult situations in combat and having pinpoint details doesn’t give you an overall picture. I doubt that the general staff is so stupid to sacrifice so many well-trained men for a futile effort. That is the realm of the cockroach army.
     I’ll chalk this one up as a sensationalistic effort.

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     • I was really impressed our guys deployed leaving the Bradley and disbursing. Not knowing military tactics but our guys looked like they really knew what they were doing, cautiously advancing and gaining ground. Looked really professional..

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       • They’ve been trained by the West. Even at this moment, there are thousands being trained in various NATO countries.

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