“It is too early to talk about it”: Spokesperson reacts to reports of Ukrainian troops landing in occupied Kherson region

Ukraine's southern grouping spokesperson, Natalia Humeniuk, commented on the recent report by the American Institute for the Study of War about Ukrainian soldiers likely having landed on the left bank of the Kherson region, occupied by Russian forces.

She said that the combat work around populated areas could not considered complete without fortification and urged not to push but to trust the military.

"First, it is too early to talk about it in an affirmative tone because these are the analysts' conclusions," she said.

According to Humeniuk, the Russian military commanders confirmed the information about the landing of the Ukrainian forces on the left bank of the Kherson region, so it is worth taking their statements as evidence.

"Our combat work is conducted in different directions, in different ways. We rely on counter-battery fighting, as the task is to clear part of the territory of the left bank from the enemy," the spokesperson reported.

According to her, clearing part of the left bank is necessary to "make life for the right bank easier" because the occupying forces continue to shell it and attack it, including from the air.

"We are not talking about advances on such a scale but about combat work, the results of which can be announced only when there is a fixed result," Humeniuk explained.

She stressed that the "proclamations" about possible successes harm combat work.

"Let's take our time and trust the military who are doing this work," she said.

As Rubryka reported, analysts of the American Institute for the Study of War (ISW) stated that units of two Ukrainian marine infantry brigades probably carried out an assault across the Dnipro River on the left bank of the Kherson region on October 17-18.

In turn, the Ukrainian General Staff reported that during the past day, October 21, Ukrainian defenders destroyed seven Russian artillery systems, a radar station, an ammunition depot, and an anti-aircraft missile complex; about 80 combat clashes took place on the front.

The General Staff also reported that the Ukrainian forces eliminated almost 1,000 more occupiers in the past day, so the total losses of Russian troops since the beginning of the full-scale war amounted to about 294,000 soldiers. The Russians suffered the greatest losses near Avdiivka.