Russia Loses Control in One of Its Annexed Territories, Kherson

Newsproid - Russia no longer has full control over any of the four Ukrainian provinces it annexed last week. Ukrainian troops reportedly pushed in Kherson province and drove Russian troops back in the east. The Russian military admits that Kyiv forces have penetrated into the Kherson region. Ukrainian soldiers and superior tank units are said to have penetrated the defenses around the villages of Zoltaya Balka and Alexsandrovka.

The spokesman for the Russian Ministry of Defense, Igor Konashenkov said that his troops returned to the lines of defense that had been prepared previously. His comments were an acknowledgment that southern Ukraine's counter-attacks were increasing dramatically.

The Ukrainian brigades have achieved their biggest breakthrough in the region since the war began. They broke through the front line and advanced rapidly along the Dnieper.

Kyiv gave no official confirmation of the progress. However, some Russian sources admit that the tank attack has moved along the west bank of the river. They recaptured a number of villages along the way and threatened supply lines for the thousands of stranded Russian soldiers. Speaking overnight, Zelenskiy said that the Ukrainian 129th brigade from his hometown of Kryvyi Rih had liberated the settlements of Arkhanhelske and Myrolyubivka in the northern Kherson region. The brigade soldiers waved the blue and yellow flag at Myrolyubivka from the broken roof.

Russian military bloggers say that Ukraine's progress has been spectacular. They claimed Kyiv forces were close to Dudchany, about 20 miles (30 km) to the south where the line of defense was before the breakthrough. Those conditions represent one of the fastest progress of the war.

Anton Gerashchenko, an adviser to the Ukrainian interior ministry, posted a photo of Ukrainian soldiers posing with their flags. He said it was the village of Mikhailivka, about 20 km beyond their previous position. The next Ukrainian target is the city of Beryslav on the banks of the Dnieper. In a sign of upheaval within the command of the Russian army, the head of the western military district was reportedly sacked on Monday after recent defeats. The RBC news agency also confirmed General Alexander Zhuravlyov had been sacked.

His district is one of the five that make up the Russian armed forces. The move followed criticism over the weekend by Chechen president Ramzan Kadyrov and from Valery Gerasimov, Putin's chief of general staff, over Lyman's release.

“This is clearly related to the guilt of war, which is getting harder and harder to hide. The Kremlin is looking for a scapegoat." said a former Russian defense ministry official who had worked with Zhuravlyov as quoted by TheGuardian.com, Tuesday (4/10/20 22). In his last speech, Zelensky dismissed Russia's annexation of the Ukrainian territory as a joke, which included the provinces of Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk and Luhansk.