Up to 20,000 in 25
BTGs (invasion force, 24 February 2022) 7 brigades (west bank Kherson, May 2022)[12] 20,000–25,000 (west bank Kherson, August 2022, per Ukraine)[16] 40,000 (west bank Kherson and support units, October 2022, per
Budanov)[17] 152,000 (Kherson and Zaporizhzhia Oblasts, May 2023, per Ukraine)[18]
1,800 (24 February 2022, pre-invasion) 8 brigades (west bank Kherson, May 2022)[12] 20,000 (west bank Kherson, August 2022)[19]
Kherson was
surrounded two days into the war, after which Russian forces advanced to the outskirts of
Mykolaiv,
which they failed to capture. The front then stabilised until a Ukrainian offensive in August. Ukrainian forces retook all of the territory west and north of the
Dnieper river, and the front stabilised again just south of Kherson in November 2022. Kherson, the only
oblast capital captured by Russia after its 2022 invasion, was
liberated on 11 November.[22]
Background
In the aftermath of the
Maidan Revolution in 2014, Russia
annexed the
Crimean Peninsula from Ukraine.[23][24] Russian troops occupied the self-proclaimed
Republic of Crimea for the next eight years. The
Chonhar Peninsula bordering Crimea was under Russian control until December 2014; the Ukrainian military began fortifying it the following year, placing explosives on several bridges in the area, though most of these failed to detonate on the first day of the invasion.[25]
The Russian military presence in Crimea significantly increased during the
pre-war military buildup on Ukraine's borders, with over 10,000 additional troops deployed in late January and early February.[26] On the eve of the invasion, Russian manpower in Crimea was estimated at 90,000.[27]
Ukrainian plans called for
Operational Command South, under Major General
Andrii Sokolov [
uk], to be assigned two brigades of 3,000-5,000 men each, and a battalion of 500 troops stationed directly on the border with Crimea. In case of active hostilities, the formation was to be reinforced with two brigades of
territorial defense: the
110th and
124th.[25][28]
In reality, the Ukrainian force in the south mostly consisted of the main units of the
59th Motorized Infantry Brigade and the 137th Marine Battalion of the
35th Marine Brigade. The planned second brigade was never assigned, the territorial defense brigades had yet to be staffed, and the existing units were only at about 50-60% strength due to losses from
fighting in the east and training assignments for various sub-units in different parts of the country. As a result, the Ukrainian force at the beginning of the invasion comprised about 1,300 men of the 59th Brigade stationed at a camp in the
Oleshky Sands, 250-300 marines of the 137th Battalion positioned at the entrances to mainland Ukraine from Crimea, and various supplementary forces numbering "a couple hundred".[25][28]
Russian documents captured by the Ukrainian military indicated plans to bypass
Mykolaiv and land at
Odesa within five days, capture
Bilhorod-Dnistrovsky by the ninth day of the invasion, and reach the
Moldova–Ukraine border by the eleventh day.[25]
By 3:30 on 24 February, Ukraine closed all commercial shipping in the
Sea of Azov, leaving more than 100 ships stuck in port.[29] Starting at 4:00, the Ukrainian military observed over thirty Russian military aircraft taking off from Crimea. The planes flew over the
Black and
Azov Seas, launching strikes on Ukrainian military targets at 5:00, including "almost all" the military facilities in Kherson and Zaporizhzhia Oblasts. Col.
Vadym Rymarenko [
uk], commanding the 137th Battalion, then reported that the Russian forces in Crimea had opened fire on the battalion's positions on the border.[28]
Shortly after Russian President
Vladimir Putin announced a military operation in Ukraine, the
Russian Air Force began to launch
cruise and
ballistic missiles at targets in several cities in
Kherson Oblast. With air support, Russian Armed Forces then crossed into Kherson Oblast from Crimea.[30][31][32] The
Russian Navy used a naval blockade in the
Black Sea to prevent Ukraine from providing support to units located near Kherson Oblast, and restrict commercial trade and the flow of goods to southern Ukraine.[33]
Combat engineers of Ukraine's 137th Battalion were ordered to destroy a bridge connecting
Henichesk with the
Arabat Spit, in an attempt to slow the advance of Russian troops from Crimea, allowing the Ukrainians to retreat and regroup.[25][28][36]Vitalii Skakun, the
combat engineer who planted the explosives on the bridge, did not have enough time to retreat from the bridge, and so detonated the mines, killing himself and destroying the bridge.[37][38][39][40]
Russian troops moved towards
Nova Kakhovka and established control over the
North Crimean Canal on 24 February.[41][42][43] Following Russia's 2014 annexation of Crimea, Ukraine had blocked the canal,[44][45][46] which had provided 85% of Crimea's drinking water.[47]Sergey Aksyonov, head of the
Republic of Crimea, told local authorities to prepare the canal to receive water from the Dnieper and resume the supply of water to Crimea the following day.[48]
Russian forces recaptured the Antonovskiy Bridge on the evening of 25 February.[49]
On 26 February, according to Kherson mayor
Ihor Kolykhaiev, a Ukrainian airstrike forced the Russians to retreat from Kherson, leaving the city under Ukrainian control.[50][51] Ukrainian forces later recaptured the bridge.[52] A Ukrainian official said that Russian forces had killed a journalist and an ambulance driver near the village of
Zelenivka, a northern suburb of Kherson.[53]
Another Ukrainian official later claimed that a Russian army column was defeated between the towns of
Radensk and
Oleshky, just south of Kherson.[54]
In the afternoon of 26 February, 12 Russian tanks managed to break through in
Kakhovka on the Dnieper and began advancing towards
Mykolaiv.[55]Vitaliy Kim, the
governor of Mykolaiv Oblast, said the city had had five hours to prepare.[56][57] Artillery and other arms were prepared.[58]
By evening, Russian tanks were in the outskirts of Mykolaiv.
Oleksandr Senkevych [
uk], the mayor of Mykolaiv, ordered citizens to stay indoors, as far away from windows as possible.[59] Shortly after, Russian troops entered the city and a
battle erupted outside of a shopping mall about 10 minutes later.[60] According to some reports, tanks "passed through the city".[61] There were also sightings of large fires.[62] The next day, Ukrainian officials claimed that Russian forces were fully driven away from Mykolaiv.[63] The city was extensively damaged.[64][65][66]
On 28 February, Ukrainian official Vadim Denysenko accused Russian forces of trying to use civilians from villages around Kherson as human shields to cross the bridge into Kherson.[73] The same day, Russian troops advanced from Kherson towards Mykolaiv, reaching the city's outskirts and launching an assault at 11:00.[74][75]
Russian forces also shelled
Bashtanka and Mykolaiv on 1 March. Ukrainian officials later claimed that a large Russian convoy was attacked and defeated by Ukrainian forces during the night near Bashtanka, forcing the Russians to retreat towards the neighboring city of
Novyi Buh. They claimed that "several dozen [Russian] armored vehicles" were destroyed in the attack.[76] Kim stated that during the operation, a Ukrainian helicopter was destroyed, but its pilots survived.[77]
The next day, Russian forces bombarded
Voznesensk, which has a bridge that can be used to cross the
Southern Bug instead of the one near Mykolaiv, during the morning. Russian paratroopers then landed at a forested ridge near the town, and an armored column approached it. Forces from the
126th Coastal Defence Brigade were attacked while trying to reach them.[78]
The Russian troops, estimated to be 400 by Ukrainian officials, then captured the village of Rakove, whose houses it used to create a sniper nest. Afterwards, they set up a base at a gas station near the town's entrance and assaulted the base of the
Territorial Defense Forces. Ukrainian forces struck back with artillery that night with the help of local volunteers who gave them coordinates.[78] Local volunteers and Ukrainian soldiers were able to repel Russian troops from Voznesensk the next day, forcing most of them to retreat 40 miles (64 km) to the east and others to flee into nearby forests, where ten of them were later captured. Ukrainian officials stated that Russian forces had lost 30 vehicles in the battle, in addition to around 100 soldiers. Ten civilians were killed in the fighting.[78]
In the early morning of 1 March, Russian forces began assaulting Kherson from the west, advancing from Kherson International Airport towards the highway to Mykolaiv. They were able to surround the city and reached the neighboring settlement of
Komyshany.[79] Later in the day, Russian forces entered Kherson.[80]
In the early morning of 2 March, Russian forces seized parts of Kherson, including the city's central square.[81] Later that evening, Kolykhaiev announced that he had surrendered the city to Russian forces, and that the Russian commander planned to set up a military administration in the city.[82] Kherson became the first major Ukrainian city to fall to Russian forces in the invasion.[83]
On 2 March, Kim announced that Ukrainian forces carried out strikes on
Chornobaivka and in the
Yelanets area, and that a Russian column left
Snihurivka.[84]
Russian troops attacked Mykolaiv on 4 March. Local officials stated that Russian forces had captured some of the outskirts of the city. Ukrainian forces repelled the attack, recapturing
Mykolaiv International Airport.[85][86]
On 8 March, the
Ukrainian Air Force struck the military airbase at
Kherson International Airport during the day, with Ukrainian officials claiming that more than 30 Russian helicopters were destroyed. Satellite imagery however showed that the number was fewer.[87]
On 9 March, Russian troops entered the town of
Skadovsk. According to local residents they entered at 08:45 and stationed themselves in the central square before being driven away by protesters. They then took over a building of the
National Police of Ukraine in addition to vandalizing the city council building. The mayor Oleksandr Yakovlev stated that they took away computers from the city council building and had ordered that no political rallies be held.[88]
The next day, the Ukrainian General Staff reported that Russia deployed a battalion of the Baltic Fleet's
336th Naval Infantry Brigade toward Mykolaiv. The
Institute for the Study of War opined that "Russian forces are likely experiencing difficulty advancing northwest beyond the
Inhul River."[89] Heavy shelling hit Mykolaiv during the evening, causing several fires, and Vitaliy Kim reported "active hostilities" near
Hur'ivka [
uk] north of the city.[90]
Russian columns advancing from Crimea moved towards
Melitopol, which surrendered to Russian forces after
a small skirmish on 25 February.[91][92][93]
The
Russian 22nd Army Corps approached the city of
Enerhodar on 26 February.[94][95] A Ukrainian official stated that the Russians were deploying Grad missiles and warned of an attack on the
Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, which is located in the city.[96] The Zaporizhzhia Regional State Administration later stated that the Russian forces advancing on Enerhodar had returned to
Velyka Bilozerka, a village 30 kilometres (19 mi) from the city.[97] Russian forces tried to enter
Dniprorudne on 27 February, but were forced to turn back after being confronted by protesting locals.[98]
On the morning of 25 February, Russian units from the
Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) advanced towards
Mariupol and were defeated by Ukrainian forces near the village of
Pavlopil.[99][100][101] By evening, the
Russian Navy reportedly began an
amphibious assault on the coast of the
Sea of Azov 70 kilometres (43 mi) west of Mariupol. A US defence official said that Russian forces might be deploying thousands of
marines from this
beachhead.[102][103][104] Russian forces advanced from Melitopol towards
Mariupol, where a
battle had gone on since 25 February. The siege of Mariupol began the next day, as the Russian attack from Crimea moved east, linking the front to separatist-held regions in Donbas.[105][106] Russian forces captured the coastal city of
Prymorsk by 13:40 on 26 February.[107]
On 28 February, Russian troops began a
siege at Enerhodar in an attempt to take control of the nuclear power plant.[122] On the same day, the Russian Ministry of Defense claimed that Russian forces had captured the city and surrounded the power plant, but this was denied by mayor Dmitri Orlov.[123][124] A video later emerged showing local civilians preventing a Russian convoy from entering Enerhodar by barricading the entrance, forcing them to leave.[125]
Elsewhere, according to Ukrainian media reports, Russian sabotage and reconnaissance groups stole Ukrainian military uniforms from a military depot and engaged Ukrainian forces in
Tokmak, northeast of Melitopol.[126][127][128] According to the Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security, the Russians were identified because they wore bulletproof vests that were used by the Russian army, and not the Ukrainian vests.[129][130] Ukraine claimed Russian forces suffered many casualties and retreated to the southern outskirts of the town.[131]
Ukrainian officials stated that Russian forces had surrounded Enerhodar on 1 March, with a Russian convoy advancing into the city around 14:00.[135] According to the mayor, the city had difficulties obtaining food.[135]
On 2 March,
Anton Herashchenko said that Russian shelling hit many homes in Mariupol, with four people killed.[136] Heavy resistance was still raging in the city of Mariupol the next day, as officials alleged that hundreds of civilians had been killed in the city.[137][138][139]
On 3 March, Orlov stated that a large Russian convoy had entered Enerhodar.[140] Later, Russian forces took control of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant. During the heavy fighting a fire broke out in a training facility outside of the main complex, which was quickly extinguished,[141] though other sections surrounding the plant sustained damage.[142] Initial reports said that the radiation levels remained normal during this time and the fire did not damage essential equipment.[143][144] However, firefighters were unable to reach the fire due to the fighting.[145]
Clashes at the power plant on 4 March caused a fire to break out.[146] The
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) subsequently said that essential equipment was undamaged.[147] By 4 March, the nuclear power plant fell under Russian control. Despite the fires, the power plant recorded no radiation leaks.[148]
The next morning, after confirming that there were no changes to radiation levels, Russian forces captured Enerhodar and the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant.[149][150][151] On 5 March, Orlov stated that Russian forces controlled the perimeter of Enerhodar and the power plant, while the local authorities were allowed to remain in control in the operation of the city.[8] Russian forces briefly entered
Huliaipole, but were pushed back.[152] The city was later attacked overnight amid shelling and airstrikes.[153]
On 7 March, the Ukrainian regional military administration of Zaporizhzhia Oblast stated that Russian forces had thus far captured the cities of Berdiansk, Enerhodar, Melitopol,
Vasylivka,
Tokmak and
Polohy in this oblast.[154]
On 9 March, during the battles for Zaporizhzhia, Colonel
Serhii Kotenko, commander of the 9th Separate Motorized Infantry Battalion "
Vinnytsia Scythians", a unit of Ukraine's 59th Motorized Brigade, was killed.[13]
Fall of Mariupol, Ukrainian counterattacks, and stalemate
On 11 March, Governor Kim stated that Ukrainian forces had pushed Russian troops eastwards by 15–20 kilometres (9.3–12.4 mi) and had also surrounded some units who were negotiating for a surrender.[155] The Ukrainian forces stated that they had destroyed two Russian helicopters in
Skadovsk Raion the following day, and one of the pilots survived.[156] A video was published on social media showing one of the destroyed helicopters.[157] Yakovlev later stated that
Skadovsk had been "liberated" from Russian forces as they had left the city on 10 March, but settled on its outskirts.[158]
A column of Russian forces re-entered Skadovsk during the afternoon, according to its mayor, and settled in one of the children's camps on its outskirts.[159]
Kim later claimed that 200 Russian vehicles were destroyed and surrounded in Melitopol.[160]Anton Gerashchenko later clarified that this had occurred near Vasylivka and the Ukrainian forces had destroyed the 200 vehicles of Russian forces stationed near Melitopol using artillery. He added that their headquarters was destroyed as well.[161]
On 15 March, the Russian Defense Ministry stated that Russian forces had captured all of Kherson Oblast.[162] The
Ukrainian Air Force later struck the military airbase at
Kherson International Airport again, destroying multiple Russian helicopters.[87] On 16 March, the Ukrainian government said that its forces had begun a counteroffensive near Mykolaiv towards Kherson and captured the town of
Posad-Pokrovske.[163][164] Ukrainian troops in the village said their objective was to retake Kherson International Airport.[165]
Gennady Korban, head of Staff of
Dnipro Oblast's Territorial Defense Forces, stated that the region was prepared for a Russian offensive, unlike Kherson and Zaporizhzhia oblasts. He added that Russian forces were staging in the settlements of
Velyka Oleksandrivka,
Novovorontsovka and
Arkhanhelske.[166] On 17 March, the Ukrainian military reported that Russian forces achieved "minor successes" in attacks towards
Kryvyi Rih, capturing the village of
Mala Shestirnia [
uk].[167]
Landing ships of the
Russian Navy meanwhile approached the coast of Odesa in three groups, including the
Ivan Gren-class landing shipPyotr Morgunov.[168] Russian fighter jets and warships attacked settlements in
Odesa Oblast during the day, according to Ukrainian officials. Attacks on one of the settlements in the morning wounded two people.[169]
According to the Mariupol City Council, 2,357 civilians had been killed during the city's siege.[170] Following a renewed missile attack on 14 March in Mariupol, the Ukrainian government claimed more than 2,500 deaths in the city.[171] By 18 March,
Mariupol was completely encircled and fighting reached the city centre, hampering efforts to evacuate civilians.[172] The Russians demanded a full surrender, which several Ukrainian government officials including Zelenskyy refused.[173][174][175] On 24 March, Russian forces entered central Mariupol,[176] seizing the Church of the Intercession of the Mother of God. The city administration alleged that Russians were trying to demoralize residents by publicly shouting claims of Russian victories, including statements that
Odesa had been captured.[177] On 27 March, Ukraine's deputy prime minister,
Olha Stefanishyna, stated that Mariupol "simply does not exist anymore," and that Russia's objectives have "nothing to do with humanity." Stefanishyna summarized that: "They (Mariupol's inhabitants) don’t have access to water, to any food supplies, to anything. More than 85 percent of the whole town is destroyed."[178]
In a telephone conversation with
Emmanuel Macron on 29 March, Putin stated that the bombardment of Mariupol would end only when Ukrainian troops fully surrendered Mariupol.[179]
On 1 April, a rescue effort by the United Nations (UN) to transport hundreds of civilian survivors out of Mariupol with 50 allocated buses was impeded by Russian troops, who refused the buses safe passage into the city while peace talks continued in Istanbul.[180] On 3 April, following the retraction of Russian forces from Kyiv at the end of phase one of the military invasion, Russia expanded its attack on southern Ukraine further west with increased bombardment and strikes against Odesa, Mykolaiv, and the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant.[181][182]
By 10 April, Ukrainian forces had made significant advances and pushed back the Russian military in the area around Kherson, gaining ground at
Osokorivka and
Oleksandrivka. Russian counter-attacks failed to retake the lost territory, while Ukraine continued to harass local Russian airfields.[183] The Ukrainian counteroffensive had put Russia on the defensive in southern Ukraine, forcing it to focus on fortifying Kherson and improving its air defenses.[184] Guerrillas also began attacking Russian targets in the south, with one group reportedly operating in Melitopol.[185] By 18 April, fighting continued, and Ukraine claimed that its
80th Air Assault Brigade had retaken a number of villages near Mykolaiv.[186] Two days later, Russia counter-attacked and made minor gains at Oleksandrivka.[187] Gerashchenko announced that Ukrainian forces captured three villages near Snihurivka on 27 April.[188][189]
By May, the situation in right-bank Kherson Oblast had become a stalemate, with the opposing forces evenly matched and unable to go on the offensive. Units of the Russian
49th Combined Arms Army and the Crimea-based
22nd Army Corps held a bridgehead over the Dnieper approximately 160km wide and 50km deep.[12] According to Ukrainian military expert Viktor Kevliuk, the strategic purpose of the Russian bridgehead was to protect the North Crimean Canal and the "land bridge" between Crimea and mainland Russia, as well as to serve as a staging area for a future Russian operation aimed at reaching
Transnistria and cutting off Ukrainian access to the Black Sea.[12] Russian forces were said to be preparing second and third lines of defense, fortifying airfields, ports and railway stations, and mining the coast of the
Kakhovka Reservoir in anticipation of a Ukrainian counterattack.[12]
On 1 June, according to a Ukrainian regional governor,
Vitalii Kim, Russian forces started blowing up bridges near Kherson in anticipation of a counterattack by the Ukrainian army.[190]
On 9 June, Reuters reported Ukrainian and British claims that Ukrainian forces had made gains in a counteroffensive towards Kherson, including establishing a bridgehead across the
Inhulets River.[191] This offensive led to fierce fighting around
Davydiv Brid, which saw positional warfare for the village due to its location on the river.[192][193]
On 10 June,
Oleksiy Arestovych, an advisor to Zelenskyy, claimed that shelling on a Russian base in
Stara Zburivka [
uk] killed two generals, one of whom was preparing a
referendum in the Kherson region. Arestovych also claimed that a recent artillery attack on another Russian base killed at least 200 troops, including Arabs, who were "presumably from Syria." He said it was the first confirmed case of Arabs fighting with Russia in Ukraine.[194]
On 8 July, Russia's
ambassador to the United Kingdom,
Andrey Kelin, said during a
Reuters interview that Russia was unlikely to withdraw its forces from southern Ukraine as part of any future deals to end the war, saying, "...we have already experienced that after withdrawal, provocations start and all the people are being shot and all that."[195]
On 12 August, UN Secretary-General
António Guterres asked for a demilitarized zone to be created around the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant after shelling struck an area used to store radioactive material.[196] This echoed earlier calls by Ukraine.[197] Russia refused, saying that it was protecting the plant from "terrorist attacks",[198] though it has invited officials from the
IAEA to visit.[196] Two plant workers told the BBC that the staff were hostages and shelling prevented them from doing their normal work.[199]
2022 Kherson counteroffensive
This section needs to be updated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information.(December 2022)
On 11 July, Ukrainian forces launched
a missile attack with
HIMARS rockets on the Russian-occupied city of
Nova Kakhovka. Ukrainian officials claimed that the strike killed the chief of staff for the 22nd Army Corps, Major General Artyom Nasbulin, along with five colonels and a total of 150 soldiers. Russian forces confirmed the strike but did not confirm the death of the officers claimed by Ukraine, claiming that the Ukrainian rocket hit a warehouse that contained chemicals which then exploded.[202][203]
On 29 August, Ukraine launched
a counteroffensive on the Kherson front.[204] During a 3 day period from 2 October to 4 October, Ukraine liberated 11 settlements in northern Kherson.[205] On 9 November, Russia announced the withdrawal of troops from
Kherson,[206] with Ukrainian troops reportedly entering
Snihurivka the next day.[207][208][209] On 11 November, Ukrainian troops
entered the city of Kherson,[210] and were met by crowds of Ukrainian citizens chanting "
Slava Ukraini!" and "Glory to the
ZSU,"[211] expressing their gratitude by lifting up soldiers and waving
Ukrainian flags.[212][213]
Russian entrenchment and beginning of Dnieper campaign
This section needs to be updated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information.(December 2022)
In the aftermath of Ukraine's recapture of right-bank Kherson Oblast, Ukrainian forces began conducting a small-scale
military campaign on the Dnieper, conducting raids and incursions on the left bank and on the
Kinburn Spit.[214]
In December 2022, following previous successful counteroffensives, speculation among Western analysts and media about a prospective Ukrainian campaign to retake
Crimea abounded. In the event of such an offensive, observers and analysts suggested Ukraine could attack along the Zaporizhzhia front and advance towards the strategic city of
Melitopol to cut Russia's "landbridge to Crimea." Throughout the month, Russia reinforced its defense lines in southern Ukraine, particularly along the Zaporizhzhia and Kherson fronts.[215] Attacks on "collaborators" and Russian agents by apparent Ukrainian partisans and saboteurs continued.[216]
On 23 December, Ukraine's mayor of Melitopol
Ivan Fedorov said the Russians were transforming the city into a fortress, replete with
dragon's teeth defenses.[216] Meanwhile, satellite imagery showed that Russian troops had established trenches around the perimeters of
Tokmak in
Zaporizhzhia Oblast, considered a strategic city on the approach towards Melitopol.[217] On 15 May 2023, Ukrainian military intelligence estimated that the Russians had stationed 152,000 troops in Kherson and Zaporizhzhia oblasts in anticipation of a potential Ukrainian counteroffensive.[218]
2023 Ukrainian counteroffensive and continued Dnieper incursions
As Ukraine prepared to launch its counteroffensive in the south, there were signs of activity on the Dnieper front.[219] However, on June 6, 2023, the
Kakhovka Dam in
Nova Kakhovka was purposefully
destroyed while under Russian control since March 2022, massively flooding the region. Experts assess that Russian forces likely blew the dam up.[220][221] This forced combat to stop along the river for a time.[219]
In early June 2023, Ukrainian forces launched their counteroffensive on the eastern part of the southern front, focusing on multiple directions, including
Orikhiv[222] and
Velyka Novosilka,[223] which are located in eastern Zaporizhzhia Oblast and western Donetsk Oblast, respectively. By 11 June, Ukraine had recaptured the front line settlements of
Neskuchne,
Blahodatne,
Storozheve,
Makarivka, and
Novodarivka.[224] The progress of the offensive slowed as time progressed, despite the capture of several more villages. By December 2023, prominent Ukrainian figures and Western analysts began giving negative assessments of the success of the counteroffensive; statements by Ukrainian general
Valerii Zaluzhnyi in early November 2023 that the war had arrived at a "stalemate" were seen by observers as an admission of its failure,[225] and followed more definite assessments made by analysts, especially with regard to operational success, from several weeks earlier.[226] Ukrainian forces did not reach the city of
Tokmak, described as a "minimum goal" by Ukrainian general
Oleksandr Tarnavskyi,[227] and the probable initial objective of reaching the
Sea of Azov to split the Russian forces in southern Ukraine remained unfulfilled.[228][229][230]
As the floodwaters from the Dnieper receded, Ukraine resumed its incursions across the river on a larger scale. In December 2023, Ukraine established a foothold on the left bank at the village
Krynky.[219]
The Ukrainian military announced on 3 March 2024 that it was spending a record amount of funding on fortifying the Zaporizhia region on the southern front.[231]
The war has had a disruptive and destructive impact on the unique plants and wildlife of the
Kinburn Spit such as the Сentaurea breviceps and Сentaurea Paczoskiicornflower species,[268] and their sensitive ecosystem.[269] Bombs, and the pollutants that came from them, killed nearby dolphins, and opened the sand and soil to the threat of chemicals seeping in and invasive species, according to the research and policy director at the UK-based Conflict and Environment Observatory Doug Weir.[270] In May 2022 a 4,000 hectares (10,000 acres) fire, started by rockets, inflicted lasting habitat damage to the
perennial forests and
salt marshes of the spit.[269][270][271]
^"Nova Kakhovka has fallen to Russia: Ukraine media". The Business standard. 27 February 2022.
Archived from the original on 27 February 2022. Retrieved 28 February 2022. Its mayor Volodymyr Kovalenko has reportedly said that Russian troops have seized the city's executive committee and removed all Ukrainian flags from buildings
^Clark, Mason; Stepanenko, Kateryna; Barros, George (27 April 2022).
"Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, April 27". Institute for the Study of War. Retrieved 28 April 2022. Local fighting continued in the Mykolayiv direction, with Russian forces conducting failed attacks towards Tavriyske and Nova Zorya and Ukrainian forces reportedly recapturing Shyroke, Novopetrivka, and Lyubino, 50 km north of Kherson.
^"Unique plants in the south of Ukraine may become extinct because of the war". uacrisis.org.
Ukraine Crisis Media Center. 23 December 2022. Retrieved 29 December 2022. Oleksiy Vasyliuk, head of the NGO Ukrainian Nature Conservation Group, said that there are unique plants on the Kinburn Spit that grow only there and nowhere else on the planet, for example, two cornflower species – Сentaurea breviceps and Сentaurea Paczoskii.
^Kottasová, Ivana (22 May 2022).
"Ukraine's natural environment is another casualty of war. The damage could be felt for decades". cnn.com.
CNN. Retrieved 24 November 2022. Precious perennial forests and salt marshes in the Kinburn Spit Reserve in the Mykolaiv region were on fire for more than a week, its unique habitats were left devastated, according to Zinoviy Petrovich, the head of Kinburn Spit Reserve.