President Zelensky's Chief of Staff Says Ukrainian Troops Have Been Successful in Securing Strategic Areas in the South

JAKARTA - Presidential Chief of Staff Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukrainian troops had succeeded in securing a strategic area as a foothold on the east bank of the Dnipro River, southern Ukraine.

The statement made by Andriy Yermak was the first official acknowledgment that Ukraine had deployed troops on the eastern bank of the Dnipro, Kherson region.

"Against all odds, the Ukrainian Defense Forces have gained a foothold on the left (east) bank of the Dnipro River," said Yermak in a speech at the Hudson Institute, United States, which was later uploaded to President Zelensky's website, reported by Reuters, November 15.

"Step by step, they are demilitarizing Crimea. We have covered 70 percent of the distance. And our counteroffensive continues to grow," he continued.

In a speech at the Hudson Institute, Yermak said the only certainty was that Russia had no intention of stopping the war but hoped "to outlast democratic unity."

"We need weapons now. Russia still has air superiority," he said at the meeting.

"They are still able to produce missiles because they avoid sanctions. Not to mention Iranian drones and North Korean artillery shells," he stressed.

It is known that Russian troops captured the Kherson region at the start of the February 2022 invasion of Ukraine. However, late last year it abandoned the region's capital, also called Kherson, and the western bank of the Dnipro. Since then they have shelled Kherson and other cities from new positions on the east bank.

Ukrainian officials are careful in explaining their troop movements on the east bank, as Ukraine's four-month counteroffensive has made little progress.

Meanwhile, a military spokesman this month said "not bad results" had been achieved on the east bank in forcing Russian troops to reposition. Unofficial reports note Ukraine's progress.

Separately, the Russian military said last week that its forces had thwarted Ukrainian efforts to build bridges on the east bank and nearby islands, killing around 500 Ukrainian troops.