Stalemate in Krynki: why neither the Ukrainian Armed Forces nor the Russian Armed Forces can advance on the bridgehead

The desired “salvation” Krynok

Krynki is a small settlement on the left bank of the Dnieper in the Kherson region. Recently, his name was remembered again – there the Russian army shot three Ukrainian prisoners of war.

The area around Krynki is believed to be under the control of the Russian army. But not Krynki and his surroundings. The Ukrainian Armed Forces have been operating there locally and in small groups since mid-autumn 2023, creating a springboard for a new offensive against occupied Crimea.

But all this time Russian forces did not give up their attempts to take control of Krynki, which had already been razed to the ground. And even on February 20, 2024, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu informed Russian President Vladimir Putin about the “cleaning” of Krynok. “Today, not only observation missions, but paratroopers and the 810th Marine Brigade showed themselves very valuable there,” he said, adding that the “liberation” of this village was at the end of the scale. -Attack of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.”

However, it later turned out that Russian messages did not correspond to reality even at the highest level. The Russian army actually tried to place its tricolor at Krynki but failed. The flag of the aggressor country lasted no more than half an hour – Ukrainian fighters destroyed it by dropping it from a drone.

Since then, all attempts by the Russian armed forces to take control of this region have failed. There are constant ground battles, with clashes between infantry and artillery fire, and small attack drones are used.

According to Natalya Gumenyuk, head of the joint coordination press center of the Defense Forces of Southern Ukraine, the enemy has recently tried new tactics in the Krynka region. He points out that recently in the reports of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine it can be seen that a significant number of attacks have been revealed, up to 16. In other words, the Russian army is trying to choose tactics that will be effective for it. “The invaders used the ‘cockroach method’; numerous small assault groups tried to attack the bridgeheads of the Armed Forces of Ukraine from different directions,” he explains. But such actions did not bring success, so the enemy returned to more constant and traditional tactics – 5-6 attacks per day.

Powers and means: drone warfare

Drone warfare continues on this part of the front. The army says that the enemy attacks ended in failure due to the very successful operation of our unmanned aerial vehicle units, which caused serious losses to the enemy with these UAVs. We are talking about FPV drones and electronic warfare systems against them. Russian public pages confirm this – in them you can see complaints about work from the sky.

“More than a hundred FPV drones operate a day – this is just the rhythm of the current worm in the deleted Krynki area,” says Robert Brovdi, commander of the aerial reconnaissance group “Magyar Birds” with the call sign “Magyar”. currently working in the Krynka district.

In addition, Ukrainian artillery is actively working in this direction, disabling enemy artillery systems.

“There is a unique situation in Krynki – thanks to artillery and drone support it was possible to establish control of small forces against an army of thousands of people,” says Kherson political scientist Vladimir Molchanov. “The surrounding forests where the Russians can hide, for them “the Russians are nervous” It’s not as safe as they think.

He has noticed an increase in information about the number of attacks in recent weeks. “I think it’s because of the emergence of guns. They are bombing more and more not only Krynki, Cossack Camps, Mayachka and Korsunka, but also the cities of Aleshki, Kakhovka and Novaya Kakhovka, and they have aerial bombs, kamikaze drones. “It works,” he says.

“As for the strategic prospects for the expansion of the bridgehead, the last one took place a few weeks ago, with the expulsion of Russian saboteurs and drone pilots from the western and southwestern parts of Krynka, where Ostap Vishny’s house is located. There, in an unexpected advance, the Russians fled to the Cossack Camps and so the whole of Krynki is now effectively under Ukrainian control. It’s hard to call it control when it’s impossible to be underground in this part of the village. It suffered less because it was not under Ukraine’s control. The ruins are still there. “Some are missing, just a handful of stones,” he continues.

At the same time, Ukrainian forces were never able to move heavy equipment to this bridgehead.

“They carried him away, but he lived for a few hours in Krynki territory,” says the expert. “We lost our equipment. But the Russians also lost equipment going to Krynki or near Krynki; our drones are working on that.”

In an unequal war, with thoughts of counterattack

Military expert Alexey Getman, Major of the Ukrainian National Guard, says that the Russian Armed Forces have a huge advantage over the Ukrainian units located in the Krynka region, but there is no opportunity to remove them from the banks of the Dnieper. .

“Russian forces can reach this area with nearby armored vehicles,” he explains in his comment. Focus, “They jump from two or three kilometers away because we cover them with artillery fire and destroy them with unmanned aerial vehicles. Small groups of infantry are coming and trying to corner us. The Russians are very uncomfortable with us ensuring the supply of everything necessary for the marines and special operations forces stationed there. We deliver everything in small batches. “The Russians are very worried about this, they are constantly sending more and more people there.”

At the same time, both the Russian and Ukrainian sides have no chance of advancing.

“The last opportunity for the Ukrainian Armed Forces to move to the left bank was after the explosion of the Kakhovka hydroelectric power station, from which the invaders retreated. Then, within a week, it was possible to cross by boat, overcoming the flooded sandy areas. seizing the forests,” says Vladimir Molchanov, “Perhaps the Ukrainian units were not ready. Now it is possible to place a Ukrainian flag on Krynki, but it will be demolished very quickly by Russian drones, just as Ukrainian drones specifically demolished Russian drones. Sufficiently equipped, the Dnepr group has both human and technical resources, its main task is to capture the Krynkovsky bridgehead, everything they do is to bombard the right bank, especially the Ukrainian landing armies in other places. There are enemy forces where this can be done, while in others it is impossible to pass unnoticed. On the other hand, the Russians have no chance in this sector of the front.”

Alexey Getman explains why this beachhead is important for the Ukrainian side.

“On the one hand, we are preparing for a strong offensive from the Russian Federation in late May and early June, so now the question arises whether we should think about our counter-offensive actions. But we should definitely think about it. Just because we forced this small force to hold back a large number of enemy armed forces, at least this is already a success of our combat tactics. If all goes well, we can repel the Russian attack within a month. two, then it would not hurt us to move to Armyansk and Skadovsk, that is, in the Crimea direction “.

But until the Ukrainian side establishes a powerful electronic warfare system, which the president recently talked about, there is no point in transferring large forces to the left bank.

“During the crossing, both the armored car and the tank will be vulnerable,” Getman assures. “We hold a bridgehead there and we do not need a tank to get there. We have equipment specifically provided by us. We have pontoon and other partners who make the crossings very quickly, if the need arises We can transfer large numbers of forces and vehicles to the left bank very quickly. It is not because we cannot do this for now, but because there is no battle formation to carry out direct offensive actions against Krynki, that is why we hold the defense for now. This is the difference between the fields.