KIEV, Ukraine – The Ukrainian military has launched a long-awaited counteroffensive in the south of the country against Russian forces , its military command in the area said on Monday.
Command spokeswoman Natalia Humeniuk confirmed the offensive at a news conference and said it included the Kherson region.
Ukraine has regularly declared its intention to retake the south of the country, and in particular the city of Kherson, the only regional capital that Russia has been able to seize from Ukraine since it invaded six months ago.
The region lies north of the Russian-held Crimean Peninsula and has coastlines on the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov.
Humeniuk told the briefing that recent attacks on Russia's southern logistics routes had "unquestionably weakened the enemy." More than 10 Russian ammunition depots have been attacked in recent weeks.
However, he did not want to give more details about the new offensive.
Russian forces in the south are "quite powerful" and have been concentrated for a long time, he told the briefing.
"The counter-offensive has already been going on for a long time (in the sense of) exhausting the enemy and not giving him a chance to advance," Humeniuk told Suspilne public broadcaster, adding that the offensive phase of it had started on Monday.
Shortly after the announcement, the head of Ukraine's Presidential General Staff, Andriy Yermak, wrote a cryptic message on Telegram proclaiming that "our Kherson comes first."
