Kherson counteroffensive, 2022

The battle, stage by stage

1. 26-28 August 2022

   The bridgehead west of the Dnipro

   Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022, and its forces took Kherson, the only regional capital they captured since 24 February 2022, in the first days of March. By late summer they held a large bridgehead on the west (right) bank of the Dnipro: the city, the approaches toward Mykolaiv, and the ground north to Vysokopillia and the Kakhovka Reservoir. It was supplied over two Dnipro crossings near Kherson, the Antonivskyi road bridge and the Antonivka rail bridge, and the road over the Kakhovka dam at Nova Kakhovka. From mid-July Ukraine struck all three with U.S.-supplied HIMARS rockets: on 26-27 July the Antonivskyi Bridge was closed to traffic, its deck 'pierced with holes' (CBS News, with Reuters; the Russian-installed official Kirill Stremousov named HIMARS), and by late August ISW reported Russian forces relying on a half-built pontoon crossing and ferries. Ukrainian troops already held a small bridgehead across the Inhulets River at Andriivka, Lozove and Bilohirka; the Kherson outlet MOST places the 35th Marine Brigade at Andriivka. A DNR document dated 24 July, released by Ukrainian sources and cited by ISW, ordered the 109th, 113th and 125th DNR regiments redeployed to villages in north-western Kherson Oblast. (Sources: ISW 29 Aug; CBS News 27 Jul; Long War Journal 16 Sep; Daily Kos (Mark Sumner) 3 Sep; MOST. Front traces are schematic and not corroborated to the two-map standard.)

2. 29 August - 12 September 2022

   The offensive opens

   On 29 August Ukraine's Southern Operational Command announced 'counteroffensive actions in many directions' and said the first Russian line had been broken in unspecified places; Ukrainian officials named no settlements, and Russia's Defense Ministry called the attack a failure with heavy Ukrainian losses (ISW 29 Aug). Long War Journal described the main effort as the Inhulets bridgehead near Andriivka, which grew by about 15 km, with supporting attacks at Vysokopillia and near Posad-Pokrovske. Per MOST, the 17th Tank Brigade and marines took Sukhyi Stavok, the 46th Airmobile Brigade widened the bridgehead near Bilohirka, and the 128th Mountain Assault Brigade took Novovoznesenske on 6 September. Ukraine's Presidential Office confirmed Vysokopillia retaken on 4 September, and by 12 September southern command spokesperson Natalia Humeniuk put the ground retaken at about 500 sq km. Progress was costly: wounded soldiers from seven units described heavy casualties under Russian artillery to The Washington Post (7 Sep). (Sources: ISW 29 Aug; Long War Journal; mind.ua 4 Sep; Kyiv Independent 12 Sep; Washington Post via Stars and Stripes; MOST. Partly corroborated: official statements plus Russian admissions.)

3. 1-6 October 2022

   Breakthrough along the Dnipro

   In early October Ukrainian forces broke through in the north of the bridgehead. On 2 October President Zelensky said Arkhanhelske and Myroliubivka on the Inhulets were back under Ukrainian control. Pro-Kremlin war correspondents reported Ukrainian columns driving about 25 km down the Dnipro from Novovorontsovka toward Mykhailivka and fighting at Dudchany (Meduza, 3 Oct); per MOST, these were the 57th and 60th Brigades, while the 128th entered Khreshchenivka and Zolota Balka. Russia's Defense Ministry acknowledged that Ukrainian tanks had 'cut into the depths' of its defense toward Zolota Balka and Oleksandrivka, and its maps appeared to show a retreat of about 30 km (Kyiv Independent, 5 Oct). On 4 October Ukraine's Defense Ministry said the 35th Marine Brigade had retaken Davydiv Brid, one of eight villages confirmed that day. Brig. Gen. Oleksii Hromov of Ukraine's General Staff said 29 settlements had been retaken since 1 October; southern command spokesperson Natalia Humeniuk put the area at more than 400 sq km (6 October). The northern half of Dudchany was retaken on 3-4 October; a reservoir inlet left the southern half in Russian hands until 9 November. On 30 September Russia had announced its annexation of Kherson Oblast; the UN General Assembly called the move invalid (Resolution ES-11/4, 12 October). (Sources: Meduza 3 Oct; Ukrinform 4 Oct; Kyiv Independent 5 Oct; Ukrainska Pravda 6 Oct; MOST. Corroborated by both sides' statements.)

4. 18 October - 8 November 2022

   The line shrinks; civilians moved out

   On 18 October the newly appointed Russian theater commander, Gen. Sergei Surovikin, called the situation 'tense' and did not rule out 'difficult decisions'; the Russian-installed head of the region, Volodymyr Saldo, announced the 'organized, gradual displacement' of civilians from the right bank (RFE/RL). He spoke of 50,000-60,000 people from four districts, and on 22 October the occupation authorities told all residents of Kherson to leave by boat (Meduza; ISW), offering housing in Russia to those who would go there. Surovikin later said more than 115,000 people had left (TASS, 9 Nov); UK Defence Intelligence referred to '80,000 stated evacuated civilians' and assessed that the military withdrawal had likely begun as early as 22 October, possibly with soldiers in civilian clothes among the evacuees. ISW assessed that Russian forces were likely preparing to destroy the Kakhovka dam, and called the occupation officials' claim that Ukraine meant to destroy it false. Ukraine's General Staff reported Russian positions abandoned at Charivne and Chkalove. (Sources: RFE/RL 18 Oct; Meduza 19 Oct; ISW 22 Oct; TASS 9 Nov; UK MoD via Ukrinform 12 Nov. Line schematic, not corroborated to the two-map standard.)

5. 9-10 November 2022

   Withdrawal ordered

   On 9 November, on Russian state television, Surovikin proposed 'creating a defense along the left bank of the Dnipro' because Kherson could no longer be supplied, and Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu ordered the withdrawal (Meduza). ISW assessed a fighting withdrawal in relatively good order, naming elements of the 76th and 106th airborne divisions and the 22nd Army Corps, and judged a trap 'unlikely'. Retreating troops blew bridges behind them. On 10 November geolocated imagery showed Ukrainian troops in Snihurivka, where Russian milbloggers had placed the 205th Motor Rifle Brigade, in Kyselivka on the M14 about 14 km from Kherson, in Oleksandrivka and Stanislav on the coast, and in villages north of Beryslav. Commander-in-Chief Valerii Zaluzhnyi said Ukrainian forces had advanced 7 km and retaken six settlements on the Petropavlivka-Novoraisk axis, and 41 settlements in the Kherson direction since 1 October (ISW 10 Nov). Ukraine's defense minister Oleksii Reznikov had estimated about 40,000 Russian troops on the west bank. (Sources: Meduza 9 Nov; ISW 9-10 Nov; Ukrainska Pravda 10 Nov. Corroborated: ISW plus geolocation.)

6. 11 November 2022

   Ukrainian forces enter Kherson

   Russia's Defense Ministry said the withdrawal was complete at 5 a.m. on 11 November, claiming 30,000 troops and 5,000 pieces of equipment were moved (AP) and that nothing was left behind; Russian sources cited by ISW gave 20,000 troops and 3,500 vehicles, and a Ukrainian regional official said 'a lot' of hardware was abandoned. Maxar imagery of 11 November showed spans of the Antonivskyi Bridge in the river and sections of the roadway over the Kakhovka dam destroyed; the Darivka bridge on the Inhulets and the Antonivka rail bridge were also reported destroyed (ISW; officials). UK Defence Intelligence assessed that Russian forces had 'highly likely' destroyed the road and rail bridges. Ukraine's military intelligence announced that Kherson was returning to Ukrainian control; President Zelensky said special units were already in the city, and ISW traced the entry along the T1501 from the west and the M14 from the north, through Bilozerka and Chornobaivka. Crowds with flags filled Freedom Square to greet the first soldiers (CBC; Hromadske). Ukrainian troops also entered Beryslav. ISW recoded all of western Kherson Oblast as Ukrainian-held; Humeniuk later put the ground retaken on the right bank at more than 4,870 sq km. (Sources: AP via PBS; ISW 11 Nov; Kyiv Independent 12 Nov; UK MoD via Ukrinform; Euromaidan Press; CBC; Moscow Times 11 Nov. Corroborated: ISW, geolocation and both sides' statements.)