Kherson: Ukraine counterattack gathers momentum, UK defence ministry says

Ukraine's counteroffensive is gathering momentum in the Russian-controlled southern Ukrainian city of Kherson, Britain's defence ministry said on Thursday.

"Ukrainian forces have highly likely established a bridqehead south of the lngulets River, which forms the northern boundary of Russian-occupied Kherson," it said in a regular intelligence bulletin on Twitter.

Russia's 49th Army, stationed on the west bank of the Dnipro River, now looks highly vulnerable, British military intelligence said, adding that Kherson was virtually cut off from the other territories occupied by Russia.

Moscow began its brutal invasion of Ukraine on 24 February, and has faced heavy international condemnation and sanctions as a result.

The war also endangers food supplies worldwide, including in the Middle East, since Ukraine and Russia accounted for around a third of global wheat exports before fighting broke out.

But on Wednesday, a headquarters overseeing exports of Ukrainian grains opened in Istanbul after a landmark UN deal last week, and a senior Turkish official said the first ship is likely to depart Black Sea ports in a few days.

Russia and Ukraine signed the deal on Friday, brokered by Ankara and the United Nations, to reopen grain and fertiliser exports that have been blocked by war.

(Reuters, The New Arab)