2022–2023 Dnieper campaign

Ukrainian officials estimated half of the Russian soldiers had been withdrawn across the Dnieper by the evening of 10 November. In the early morning of 11 November, Russian infantrymen were seen walking across a pontoon bridge to the eastern shore. Ukrainian armour and columns closed in on Kherson proper as they moved past several towns, villages and suburbs. As Russian troops retreated across the Dnipro river, Ukrainian troops went further into Kherson Oblast and surrounding areas.[1]

Later that day, Ukrainian forces liberated Kherson and the rest of the right bank of Kherson Oblast.[2]

On the morning of September 1, Ukrainian forces attempted a landing across the Dnieper River in the direction of the Zaporizhia Nuclear Power Plant in Energodar, but Russian troops successfully repelled the Ukrainian landing attempt. In the following days and weeks, attempts at Ukrainian amphibious operations across the Dnieper intensified, especially in the Zaporizhia Oblast.[3][4]

On the night of 19 October 2022, Ukraine attempted to retake the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in occupied Enerhodar, but this failed.[5]

A map of the Kinburn Peninsula (yellow) and Kinburn Spit (green)

On 14 September, Ukraine attempted its second amphibious landing, which was unsuccessful.[6] On the day following the attempted landing, Deputy Head of the Kherson Military-Civilian Administration Kirill Stremousov claimed that over 120 Ukrainian servicemen had been killed in the attack.[6][7][8] The landing was never acknowledged by Ukraine, leading to differing accounts from different sources detailing the attack.[6]

On 13 November, Ukrainian troops in Ochakiv attempted to land at Pokrovske after conducting limited raids[9] and small boat landings in the days before.[10] After a short battle with Russian forces, the landing group was destroyed and the landing failed.[9]

On 14 November, Russian forces launched anti-aircraft missiles at Ochakiv in an attempt to disrupt Ukrainian fire control and delay future attempts at a landing.[9]

On 16 November, Ukraine's Operational Command South reported that their forces had carried out more than 50 strikes around the spit to disrupt Russian shelling and electronic warfare originating from the area.[11] The strikes reportedly killed 17 Russian troops and damaged 18 pieces of military equipment.[12][13]

On 18 and 19 November, Ukrainian attacks on the spit continued, successfully targeting concentrations of Russian forces and equipment.[14][15]

On 22 December, Volodymyr Saldo and another Russian source claimed that Ukrainian forces were regularly shelling the spit with long-range artillery and had destroyed a Russian port building there as a result, but that repeated attempts to land on the spit were still being repelled by Russian forces.[16]

On 6 January 2023, a Russian milblogger claimed that Ukrainian reconnaissance activities were still continuing on the spit,[17] which was supported by a follow up statement made by Nataliya Gumenyuk two days later.[18][19]

Following the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Ostriv Velykyi Potomkin came under Russian occupation in the early period of the conflict as a result of the Southern Ukraine campaign. During the counteroffensive, Ukrainian troops landed on parts of the island, but were repelled shortly after.[20]

On 3 December, Ukraine announced a planned evacuation from the island for civilians due to Russian shelling, although due to weather conditions this did not take place.[21]

On 7 December 2022, Ukrainian military officer of the Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine Ihor Oliinyk, commander of a reconnaissance unit operating in the Kherson region, was killed in combat on Ostriv Velykyi Potomkin.[22][23]

On 9 December, some Ukrainian officials and some unofficial Russian sources claimed that the 80th Arctic Motor Rifle Brigade, 25th Spetsnaz Regiment, and 4th BARS Special Combat Army Reserve, had re-occupied the island following a successful amphibious operation.[24][25]

However, this was contested by Serhii Khlan, advisor to the governor of Kherson, who stated that Russia did not have any presence on the island.[26] Contradicting Khlan, the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces claimed on 15 December that Russia had begun forcibly deporting civilians from Ostriv Velykyi Potomkin, affirming that Russian forces controlled the island.[27][28]

On 2 January 2023, member of the Ukrainian parliament Oleksii Honcharenko claimed that the island had been recaptured by Ukraine, posting a video on Telegram showing Ukrainian forces on the island.[29]

This news was disputed by Russian sources, and was not officially confirmed by the Ukrainian government, with Serhii Khlan saying that such information existed but could not be confirmed. Footage was thereafter published showing Russian forces operating in nearby parts of the river delta, and a Russian military blogger claimed the island remained contested.[30][31]

Russian sources claimed on 7 March 2023 that the 126th Coastal Defence Brigade had repelled a Ukrainian attempt to assault Russian positions on the island.[32]

On 16 April, the Ukrainians claimed to have killed ten Russian soldiers and destroyed 13 pieces of equipment (including six armored vehicles and a T-72 tank) during two airstrikes on the island.[33]

On May 12, the ISW assessed that Ukrainian forces where operating in the southern portion of the island.[34]