‘This is like Gallipoli’: inside Ukraine’s hardest battle yet (the Krynky bridgehead, still ongoing while largely forgotten)

5 comments

1. >Unlike in the doomed defensive actions at Mariupol and Bakhmut, the Ukrainian military has not yet made this a symbol of defiance to rally national and world opinion. Few concrete details have emerged.

   >The battle began in October, when Ukrainian special forces gained a bridgehead on the far bank of the Dnipro at the village of Krynky. Perhaps the plan was to use the position as a launchpad to drive deeper into Russian-held territory. Any hope of that evaporated when western supplies dried up in the autumn, but high command refused to give up the position, which was tying down a large number of Russian troops.

   >So, for the past nine months, thousands of Ukrainian marines — many of them trained in Britain — have been rotating in and out of a nightmare, enduring abject conditions and terrible losses to hold on to a bleak sliver of land 500m deep and 3km wide. The land is all sand or sucking mud, ridden with mosquitoes, snakes and the decomposing corpses

2. I remember reading about this assault when it was launched. “Insane. This won’t last long.” Reading this brought tears to my eyes. Heroic to say the least. I hope it is worth it in the end. The world needs to know this story.

3. Archive link: https://archive.is/RpQVs

4. Damn, reading about the conditions they’re facing makes me respect them a heck of a lot more

   And fear even more for their lives and health 🙁

5. I am stunned this is still being held by Ukraine – especially after US support went flat for so long. I’d assumed it was lost back to the thieves. This is incredible tenacity and determination. Wow