Heavy Fighting in Ukraine’s Russian-occupied South

Ukraine said Tuesday that it has attacked command posts and destroyed bridges and ammunition¹ storage in the Russian-occupied south. Russia said it fought off the attack and caused heavy losses against Ukraine's forces.

The clashes² took place in the country's Kherson area, which Russian forces took control of early in the war.

Independent confirmation³ of the claims has been difficult. However, Britain's Defense⁴ Ministry⁵ said in an intelligence report that several Ukrainian units had increased their artillery⁶ fire across southern Ukraine.

The port city of Kherson had a pre-war population of about 300,000. It is an important economic center close to the Black Sea.

Kherson was the first major city to fall to the Russians in the war. Russia considers it an important area to establish a pathway on land from its border to the Crimean Peninsula, which it seized in 2014.

Occupation forces have spoken of plans to hold a vote on making the Kherson area a part of Russia. They have also pressured local people to take Russian citizenship⁷ and stop using Ukrainian money.

Ukraine's presidential office reported that "powerful explosions continued during the day and night" and "tough battles" took place in the Kherson area. It said Ukrainian forces destroyed ammunition storage areas and all large bridges across the Dnieper River.

The Ukrainian military also reported destroying a temporary bridge being built by Russian forces on the Dnieper. And it said it hit about 10 command posts with artillery fire.

In Russia, state news agency Tass reported that explosions rocked Kherson on Tuesday morning, saying it was most likely caused by air defense systems.

British intelligence officials say many Russian units around Kherson "are likely under-manned." These troops, the officials said, have limited supply and are undergoing reorganization.

A Russian Defense Ministry spokesman⁸, however, said its forces fought well and that Ukraine lost hundreds of troops, tanks and other vehicles on Monday. His claim could not be independently confirmed.

Ukrainian independent military expert Oleh Zhdanov told The Associated Press that "it will be possible to talk about the effectiveness of Ukrainian actions only after large cities are retaken."

Zhdanov added that Ukrainian forces had broken through the first and the second lines of defense in the Kherson area several times in the past, "but it didn't bring about results."

Zhdanov said, "The most important thing is Ukrainian artillery's work on the bridges, which the Russian military can no longer use.

Words in This Story

post - n. place where soldiers are

ammunition - n. bullets and shells

artillery - n. large guns that are used to shoot over a great distance

tough - adj. very difficult to deal with

1 ammunition   

n.军火，弹药

参考例句：

• A few of the jeeps had run out of ammunition.几辆吉普车上的弹药已经用光了。
• They have expended all their ammunition.他们把弹药用光。

2 clashes   

冲突( clash的名词复数 )； 不协调； （两群人之间的）打斗

参考例句：

• Clashes broke out between police and demonstrators. 警方与示威者发生了冲突。
• Several policemen were injured in the clashes. 几名警察在冲突中受伤。

3 confirmation   

n.证实，确认，批准

参考例句：

• We are waiting for confirmation of the news.我们正在等待证实那个消息。
• We need confirmation in writing before we can send your order out.给你们发送订购的货物之前，我们需要书面确认。

4 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

5 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

6 artillery   

n.(军)火炮，大炮；炮兵(部队)

参考例句：

• This is a heavy artillery piece.这是一门重炮。
• The artillery has more firepower than the infantry.炮兵火力比步兵大。

7 citizenship   

n.市民权，公民权，国民的义务(身份)

参考例句：

• He was born in Sweden,but he doesn't have Swedish citizenship.他在瑞典出生，但没有瑞典公民身分。
• Ten years later,she chose to take Australian citizenship.十年后，她选择了澳大利亚国籍。

8 spokesman   

n.发言人，代言人

参考例句：

• The government spokesman gave a quick briefing to the reporters.政府发言人向记者们作了情况简介。
• They drew lots to decide who should be their spokesman.他们抽签决定谁是他们的发言人。