Firefighters work at a site of residential house destroyed by a Russian missile strike, as Russia's attack on Ukraine continues, in Kramatorsk, Ukraine July 29, 2022. Press service of the Donetsk Regional Military Administration/Handout via REUTERS
Kyiv: the Ukrainian army announced the killing of dozens of Russian soldiers and the destruction of two ammunition depots during the fighting in the Kherson region, the hub of the Kiev counter-offensive in the south and a key link in the Russian supply lines.
The Ukrainian Army's Southern Command said rail traffic to Kherson via the Dnipro River has been halted, which could further isolate Russian forces west of the river from supplies in occupied Crimea and in the east.
Ukraine has used long-range missile systems acquired from the West to severely damage three bridges across the Dnipro River in recent weeks, cutting off the city of Kherson, isolating the 49th Russian Army stationed on the river's west bank.
"As a result of the shooting, which took control of the main transport lines, it was found that passage through the railway bridge crossing the Dnipro River is not possible," Ukraine's Southern Command said in a statement.
It said more than 100 Russian soldiers and seven tanks were destroyed in Friday's fighting in Kherson region, the first major town occupied by the Russians as the war began on Feb. 24.
The first deputy head of the Kherson Regional Council, Yuri Sobolevsky, asked residents to stay away from Russian ammunition depots, writing on Telegram, "The Ukrainian army is intensifying pressure on the Russians and this is only the beginning."
The two sides also traded accusations on Friday over a missile attack or explosion that likely killed dozens of Ukrainian prisoners of war in the eastern Donetsk province.
The Russian Defense Ministry said 40 prisoners were killed and 75 wounded in a prison in the frontline town of Olenivka, which is held by Moscow-backed separatists.
Ukrainian forces denied responsibility, saying that Russian artillery had targeted the prison to conceal mistreatment of detainees there. Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said Russia had committed a "war crime", calling for international condemnation of the attack.(QNA)
