Russian army transfers equipment to Dnipro’s left bank after Ukrainian forces’ successful advance in Kherson Oblast

ALONA MAZURENKO – THURSDAY, 20 OCTOBER 2022, 13:12

Russian occupation forces are transferring their military equipment and personnel from the right bank of the River Dnipro to the left bank in Kherson Oblast following recent successes of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in liberating the oblast.

Source: Skhemy, an investigative branch of Radio Svoboda (Radio Liberty); Radio Svoboda (Radio Liberty) Russian service

Quote: "The occupiers are transferring their military equipment and personnel from the left to the right bank of the River Dnipro in Kherson Oblast amidst the recent decisive successes of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in liberating part of the region and their plans to further liberate the oblast, and their announcement that they intend to liberate the city of Kherson."

Details: The Skhemy journalists reported that a cargo ferry has made a number of crossings since the beginning of October transferring military personnel and equipment over Dnipro from the village of Kozatske [on the right bank - ed.] to Nova Kakhovka [on the left bank - ed.].

Satellite images obtained by the journalists and the videos shared by Russian occupation forces on social media bear out the journalists’ conclusion.

The journalists have come upon the social media profile of Makar Teplinskyi, a Luhansk Oblast native fighting on the Russian side.

Teplinskyi posted photos and video recordings documenting the movement of Russian troops and military equipment from the right to the left bank of Dnipro, specifically to the Russian-occupied territory near the city of Nova Kakhovka in Kherson Oblast, since early October.

Planet Labs satellite images suggest that in early October Russian forces stopped deploying equipment to the "unsafe" right bank of Dnipro near the village of Kozatske. Since then, the ferry has been arriving to Kozatske empty, but has been returning to Nova Kakhovka fully loaded.

On 10 October, Teplinskyi posted a photo taken on a ferry with military trucks on his profile on Vkontakte, a Russian social network.

He later shared a video in which he is on board the same ferry alongside Russian military equipment: "We’re sailing!" he wrote.

The Skhemy journalists have been able to identify the location where the video was recorded. They have established that the video was recorded near Dnipro’s right bank, in the vicinity of the village of Kozatske. The ferry carrying Russian military equipment was moving along the canal, via Kozatskyi Island and towards Nova Kakhovka.

Satellite images on 8 October show the ferry travelling towards Kozatske empty. It is likely that Teplinskyi’s video, published a few days later, captured an "evacuation" crossing.

Teplinskyi has since posted photos from Nova Kakhovka; in these photos, he is joined by other Russian soldiers.

Journalists used face recognition software to identify three more Russian occupation soldiers: "They are Rubik Mkrtichev, a resident of the Krasnodar Krai, and two natives of [Russian-]occupied Crimea, Dmytro Chumak and Ihor Kolmakov."

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