“The defense forces are ready for anything.” The CPD commented on media reports about a possible attack by the Russian Federation on Kherson

This was announced on December 23 by the head of the Center for Combating Disinformation at the NSDC, Andriy Kovalenko.

“Around Kherson. Any plans of the enemy are known, the Defense Forces are ready for anything, and some Russians are already successfully feeding crayfish in the Dnieper. Putin’s desire to raise rates will not work“, he wrote.

Most likely, Kovalenko’s statement is a comment on the new material of RBC-Ukraine.

Publication with link reported on its own sources that the generals of the Russian army have already decided on the offensive on Kherson, and the commander of the VAT of the Russian Federation, colonel-general Mykhailo Teplinskyi, has been appointed the curator of the operation.

According to information from sources, the Russians plan to use a group of attack aircraft numbering 4,000 people as part of the offensive, consisting of:

• 61st separate brigade of marines of the Russian Federation;
• 7th Assault Division of the Airborne Forces of the Russian Federation.

As the journalists note, these units of the Russian army retreated to the left bank of the Kherson region in the fall of 2022 under the blows of the Defense Forces of Ukraine.

There is also information that Russian plans to attack Kherson are directly related to weather conditions. In order to reach the right bank of the Dnieper, the occupiers need to cross the river, since all the bridges have already been destroyed.

Accordingly, the occupiers will have to organize the mass use of boats and the construction of crossings.

In addition, after the Russians blew up the Kakhovskaya HPP, some sections of the Dnieper River turned into swamps that freeze during severe cold — which may facilitate the transition of the occupiers, the newspaper reported.

A possible offensive of the Russian Federation on Kherson – what is known

On December 4, in a Financial Times comment, the head of the Kherson State Administration Oleksandr Prokudin said that there is a suspicion that the regular attacks of the Russian army on Kherson are part of Russia’s plan to increase pressure on the Armed Forces and prepare for a potential offensive on the right bank of the Kherson region.

On December 20, the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyi, announced that the Russian invaders had become more active in the Kherson area.

Also on this day, Oleksandr Prokudin reported that Russian DRGs attempted to advance in the direction of Kherson. In addition, on December 20, Kherson was subjected to massive shelling: one person died, 11 were injured. The Russians attacked residential buildings, social and critical infrastructure.

On December 21, the spokesman of the Southern Defense Forces, Vladyslav Voloshin, said that the Russian occupiers are trying to cross the Dnipro near Kherson several times a day in order to seize a new bridgehead on the right bank, the Southern Defense Forces said.