Moscow: Ukrainian forces crossed into the Russian-occupied east bank of Kherson region and took positions there, the region’s Russian-installed governor said Friday.
He said Ukrainian “sabotage groups” had managed to hide out on the outskirts of the Russian-controlled town of Kozachi Lageri, near the Dnipro river, but that they were later “cleared out” by Moscow’s forces.
“On the first day of the provocation... individual sabotage groups were able to hide on the outskirts of the settlement,” Moscow-installed official Vladimir Saldo said.
“As of today, the Kozachi Lageri area has been completely cleared physically—there is no Ukrainian military there,” he added, in comments published by the TASS news agency.
Saldo’s comments come after Ukraine’s deputy defence minister Ganna Malyar this week confirmed that “certain (Ukrainian) units performed certain tasks,” on the left bank of the Dnipro river in Kherson.
“We cannot give details,” she added.
Russian military bloggers said last week that Ukrainian detachments were present in the town and were shelling there, but that Moscow’s forces were still in control of the settlement.
Russia’s admission comes as Ukraine pushes ahead with its long-awaited counteroffensive to recapture territory controlled by Russian forces.
Ukraine recaptured the west bank of Kherson region last November, and has been launching sporadic operations on the east bank since.
While it has acknowledged difficult battles, including in the northeastern region of Kharkiv, where Russia says it is advancing, Kyiv says its forces have gained ground in the east.
Turkey warned Moscow to avoid further escalations after a Turkish-owned cargo vessel was attacked by the Russian navy last weekend, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s office said.
“After the (Russian) intervention, our interlocutors in the Russian Federation were warned appropriately to avoid such attempts, which escalate tensions in the Black Sea,” the Turkish presidency said, breaking a days-long silence over the incident.
The Sukru Okan vessel was flying the flag of Palau when the Russian navy fired it on last Sunday.
Russian military personnel then boarded the ship to conduct an inspection, before letting it sail on toward the Ukrainian port of Izmail—the main export route for Ukrainian agricultural products.
The incident came during a spike in Black Sea region attacks that followed Russia’s decision to withdraw from a landmark Ukrainian grain deal last month.
Turkey helped broker the UN-backed agreement, using its good relations with both Moscow and Kyiv to help strike the only major deal reached by the sides during the war.
But Erdogan’s office came under criticism at home for saying nothing about the Russian attack.
Erdogan’s office pushed back against its critics on Thursday, arguing that it was technically up to Palau to respond to the incident.
“Even if the owner of the Sukru Okan vessel is Turkish, the ship is not Turkish flagged,” it said.
“In international law, it is the ‘flag state’ that is more important than the name of the ship or the personality of its personal.”
Palau is a Pacific archipelago whose flag is often used by shipping companies to freely access international ports.
