The drone offered a panoramic view of the town of Snihurivka, occupied since spring by Russian troops. There was an industrial complex, buildings and a grain silo, used by the enemy as a lookout. The last attack missed its target. “We were 300 meters away,” Danilo said, pointing to the feed that showed a puff of gray smoke. The trio stood next to a white satellite dish connected to Elon Musk’s Starlink system. Immediately behind them was a well-developed network of World War I-style trenches, dug under a row of bare autumn trees. For months the Russians were only a kilometer away, hiding in civilian houses and dugouts. A member of the 63rd Brigade in a front line position just outside Snihurivka. On Wednesday, however, they proceeded to withdraw. The Kremlin was retreating from its positions in Snykhurivka and other villages on the right bank of the Dnipro. The ruined city is located in a part of the Mykolaiv region, near the administrative border with the Kherson region and the occupied city of Kherson. Serhii Khlan, deputy head of the Kherson district council, said the Russian military blew up all the bridges over a tributary river, the Inhulets, including the Daryivskyi crossing. On the way out of Snihurivika, Russian forces had destroyed a bridge over an empty canal, turning it into an impassable concrete V-shape. “They’re panicking,” Khlan said. “The conquerors are preparing their departure. They are disabling the bridges to prevent our advance.” The Russians had reinforced some of their positions on the road south of Snihurivka to cover the retreating troops, he added. The Russian army announced its withdrawal from the west bank of the Dnipro river map Russia’s defense minister has confirmed that his forces will soon leave the right bank of the Kherson, part of an area “annexed” by Vladimir Putin in September. Meanwhile, the Ukrainian army cautiously pushed forward. Military traffic was visible on the way to the front line, including T-72 tanks on loaders and a US-supplied Himars long-range artillery system. The war for southern Ukraine was being fought as a rhythmic aerial duel, in an autumn steppe landscape. Every few minutes there was a loud “boom” from the outgoing Ukrainian fire. Soon after came a cascade of Russian Grad missiles: whoosh, whoosh, whoosh. They landed somewhere out of sight. The surrounding fields of sunflowers are littered with projectiles, sticking out of the ground like angry white hairpins. On Monday afternoon, a plume of black smoke billowed across the horizon. Danilo had hit a military target. “We have something. A fuel depot or a Russian armored vehicle,” he said, taking a sip from a can of energy drink. Members of Ukraine’s 63rd Brigade in the underground section of a front-line trench. Moscow is reported to have sent 80,000 newly mobilized personnel into battle. Their task is to defend territory illegally seized by Russia in the spring and follows a rapid Ukrainian counteroffensive in September and October in the northeastern regions of Kharkiv and Kherson. About 800 had reached the Mykolaiv front. Ukrainian officers describe these recruits as untrained, ignorant and easy to kill. “It’s cannon fodder. One of them went to the bathroom in the middle of the night using a flashlight. We identified their position on the tank and destroyed it,” said Lt. Oleh Zelinskiy, a spokesman for the 63rd Brigade. “They are trying to shoot down our drones with automatic weapons. They don’t understand that drones can drop bombs. They are idiots,” he said. Russian soldiers who surrendered or were captured were treated humanely, he stressed, in contrast to the torture inflicted on Ukrainian prisoners of war. A room of empty bottles in a Ukrainian post near the front line. Zelinsky said his brigade also faced more experienced airborne troops, as well as fighters from the so-called Luhansk People’s Republic, sent from eastern Donbas. These combined Russian forces built defensive positions around the city of Kherson while simultaneously expelling residents to Crimea and beyond. A stockpile of Ukrainian mortars, on one of which someone has written: “Hello from Pasichnaya,” a village in western Ukraine. The first signs of a Russian retreat came two weeks ago, with reports of mass looting. Residents still living in Snihurivka said the Russians took all the equipment from the town’s hospital. They had stolen private cars, works of art from the Kherson museum and the bones of Grigory Potemkin, a friend and lover of Catherine the Great, from his burial place in a cathedral crypt. On Wednesday, the Russian flag was removed from Kherson’s naval academy and trade union buildings, ahead of the official withdrawal announcement. Soldiers have sunk or seized boats. They have also moved in newer tanks and left behind older armored vehicles. The draftsmen were busy fortifying a reserve line on the left bank of the Dnipro. A member of the 63rd Brigade crouches. Moscow’s defense ministry had claimed that everything was going to plan. “All attacks by the Ukrainian army in the Kherson region have been repelled,” it said, before General Sergei Surovykin, head of the general war command, cited logistical difficulties. At the same time, pro-Kremlin media reported that Kirill Stremousov, the deputy head of Russia’s Kherson government, had died in a “car accident.” The Ukrainian army was dynamic. “We will take everything back. Crimea, Donetsk, the lot,” Zelinsky said. “The Russians understand that they must leave Kherson. Our military leaders are smart. They want to avoid losses. They care about the lives of our soldiers. We are not obsessed with deadlines or symbolic dates.” He added: “Putin is a dictator. He doesn’t mind if 1,000 soldiers die in a doomed attack. We have a democratic president and we may get a different one in a few years. We must balance the lives of our soldiers with the plight of Ukrainians living under occupation. The Russians are killing and torturing people.” Andriy, a mortar operator with Ukraine’s 63rd Brigade, walks through a trench. “Unlike the Russians, I know why I’m here. We are defending our land,” says Andriy. Back in the trenches, a soldier named Andriy gave a tour of his underground living quarters. There was a kitchen with gas cylinder, stove and supplies. His lunch consisted of sardines, a mash and grape juice. fellow soldier Valery tucked into potato with salo (pork fat). Nearby was a bedroom, protected by sandbags and a wooden roof. “Eight months ago I left my home in Lviv to fight,” Andriy said. “I would like the war to end as soon as possible. Unlike the Russians, I know why I’m here. We are defending our land.” At the end of the trench was a stockpile of high-explosive shells. On one, someone had written: “Hello from Pasichnaya,” a tiny village in western Ukraine. Andriy’s mortar launcher sat under a leafless tree, half of its barrel hidden by a net. “I only shoot when I receive an order,” he said. “We’re done for today.” Valeriy praised the anti-tank weapons provided by the UK. “It’s 10 out of 10,” he said, adding: “Russia kaput!” The West needs to send more air defenses, tanks and artillery, both men said, if Ukraine is to fully expel the Russians. Victory comes at a cost. Behind their forward location is a village, torn down and abandoned. Dogs and cats roam a glass alley in front of the primary school. Inside a cluttered building, Andriy’s squad had carefully stored hundreds of plastic bottles. The Russians, by contrast, rake the trash in the open, making it easier for drone operators to spot it. Anton, a member of the Ukrainian infantry, described the conditions as OK. As winter approached, citizens had donated warm clothes and food, he said, with all of Ukraine supporting the war effort. Ukrainian troops are rotated in and out. The journey to the front includes a drive along a dirt road and a water channel, in the distance earlier this week from Russian weapons. Danilo and his drone crew said their afternoon was a success. Typically, they would destroy a Russian outpost every two or three days, he said. By Wednesday, Ukrainian troops had reportedly entered the northern suburbs of Snykhurivka. Danilo added: “We wouldn’t be here if we didn’t believe in winning. Our mood is positive. We are moving forward.”
