Outnumbered Ukrainian troops face a brutal struggle to retake the south

In a devastated village near Ukraine’s southern front line, the roar of Russian artillery is a constant reminder of the uphill battle that Kiev troops face in a planned major counteroffensive.

In the village, which was only liberated from the Russian occupation after intense fighting, there are traces of destruction everywhere.

Almost every house has been razed or badly damaged, there are burned out cars, rocket craters and no sign of the people who once called the area home.

Now a small detachment of Ukrainian soldiers holds position in sandbag trenches and the rubble of destroyed buildings, always alert for enemy drones in the air. A few dogs and a cat keep them company during the long, hot days of waiting.

“There are people who are afraid – but what can we do, we have to defend our homeland because if I don’t do it, my children will be forced to do it,” said Stanislav, 49, who left his wife and two children at home, who voluntarily fight when Russia invades.

Kyiv has promised to launch a counter-offensive to retake the strategic Kherson region, and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Saturday that his forces would advance “step by step”.

At the moment, troops at the position visited by AFP said Ukraine was doing well just holding the front line.

No one doubted that a push into the city of Kherson, some 40 kilometers away, would come at some point – even if the prospects look brutal and Ukraine still needs more big guns and armored vehicles to make bigger gains.

“We really don’t have enough artillery here. If we fire at them eight times, they fire back 48 times. At the moment they have the artillery superiority,” says Stanislav, who comes from the neighboring Odessa region.

While Russia has deployed the bulk of its forces against the bloody assault in Ukraine’s eastern Donbass region, the Battle of Kherson may prove to be a more crucial battle in shaping the future of the war.

Kherson was the first region to fall to Moscow after the invasion began, and retaking it would be an important symbolic and strategic victory for Ukraine.

The capture of the city of Kherson, the region’s capital, and the surrounding country would drive Russian forces out of the main area north of their stronghold of Crimea and ruin the Kremlin’s chances of a future push west along the Black Sea coast to Odessa.

The upcoming battle will also be a crucial test of whether Ukrainian forces, armed with new longer-range weapons from the West, can ever hope to push back the Russians and liberate the entire country.

Kyiv and Western intelligence said Moscow was beefing up its defenses in the south to try to repel any offensive, and that Russian forces had stepped up attacks on the nearby town of Mykolayiv, apparently in an attempt to stem any Ukrainian advance.

“We will liberate Kherson, that’s for sure. We won’t give it away to the Russians,” said 45-year-old soldier Oleksandr, leaning his rifle on the edge of his trench.

“We must withstand the enemy horde and then destroy them.”

Ukraine has deployed some of its most prized western weapons against Russian lines to the south.

Kiev’s armed forces have used US-supplied Himars missile systems with a range of 80 kilometers to destroy weapons caches and command posts and disrupt supply lines deeper in occupied territory.

They have also blown up a key bridge across the Dnieper to Kherson in a move that threatens to cut off Russian troops stationed there.

Trooper Alex said he would like more Himars to be sent to the southern front – but Ukraine only has a handful to deploy along its entire 1,000+ kilometer frontline.

He insisted that in any case, Ukrainian forces were prepared for any upcoming battle.

“We are ready to counterattack,” he said.