Zaluzhny Revealed Details of the Operation to Liberate Kherson

Valeriy Zaluzhny, former Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, published an analysis of the 2022 Kherson offensive. According to him, the liberation of the city was the result not only of the Ukrainian military’s actions on the battlefield, but also of the systematic disruption of Russian logistics, the use of Western weapons, and the effective deployment of reserves.

This is stated in Zaluzhny’s article on “Ukrainska Pravda.”

He noted that preparations for the operation began as early as the summer of 2022, and its progress depended largely on the supply of weapons and ammunition from international partners.

According to Zaluzhny, the HIMARS and M270 multiple launch rocket systems played a crucial role. They made it possible to strike Russian troops’ ammunition depots, command posts, and logistics hubs. In particular, the destruction of the Antonivka road and rail bridges, as well as transportation routes near Nova Kakhovka, hampered the supply lines of the occupying forces on the right bank of the Dnipro River.

Zaluzhny emphasized that the Ukrainian military could not count on rapid advancement due to the open steppe terrain, the extensive network of irrigation canals, and the significant enemy forces. In September and October 2022, the Russian force in the Kherson sector, according to his assessment, consisted in particular of elite Russian airborne and marine units.

In September, Ukrainian troops liberated more than 13 settlements and over 500 square kilometers of territory. Subsequently, after changing offensive tactics and regrouping forces, the advance continued. As of the end of October, the Defense Forces had liberated more than 90 settlements on the right bank of the Kherson region.

On November 11, 2022, Ukrainian troops entered Kherson. Zaluzhny called this operation the last battle of a classic war, in which the outcome was still being decided directly on the battlefield. In his view, its consequences became one of the factors leading to the transition to a protracted war of attrition.

Read also:From “Kharkiv Speaks” to the Liberation of Kherson: November in Ukrainian History

Among the key lessons of the operation, the former commander-in-chief highlighted the crucial importance of logistics, material support, the preparation of reserves, and the state’s own economic capabilities. He also drew attention to the dependence of Ukrainian operations on arms supplies from partners.

Separately, Zaluzhny stated that the Kherson operation influenced Russia’s approach to mobilization. In his assessment, following the failed attempt at partial mobilization in September 2022, the Kremlin shifted its focus to commercial recruitment and payments to servicemembers, in an effort to avoid another large-scale forced conscription.

Андрій Колісніченко