«Painful direction»: the Armed Forces spoke about the situation on the Kinburn Spit

Kinburn spit, photo from open sources

The spokeswoman of the Southern Defense Forces Nataliia Humeniuk reported that the situation on the Kinburn spit remains tense, it is still controlled by the Russian invaders.

She announced this on the air of Channel 24.

«So far, the Kinburn spit is in the hands of the enemy, so far it is occupied — and this is a very painful direction for me personally,» said Nataliia Humeniuk.

According to her, in order to divert the attention of the Armed Forces of Ukraine from the Kherson direction, the Russians periodically increase shelling in the Ochakiv and Kutsurub directions.

At the same time, she emphasized that the occupiers feel danger in that area. Also, the enemy began to abandon the use of artillery, giving preference to FPV drones.

«Therefore, they are trying to launch drones already from the Kherson part of the Kinburn Spit, closer to the mainland of the temporarily occupied region, in order to secure their units. That is, nervousness in the distribution of forces and means is also observed here,» explained Nataliia Humeniuk.

The spokeswoman added that when Russians go to the Kinburn Spit, they understand that it is a one-way ticket.

«They immediately fly in response, so in fact this position no longer works,» noted Nataliia Humeniuk.

What's happening at Kinburn?

Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation into Ukraine, the territory of the Kinburn Spit has been occupied by the Russian military. Actually, from there, the Russians have been shelling Ochakiv and Kutsurub communities of the Mykolaiv region for more than a year.

Until now, only three settlements located on the territory of the Kinburn spit remain occupied in the Mykolaiv region. These are the following settlements:

• the village of Vasylivka. Before the full-scale war, the population was 382;

• the village of Pokrovka. Before the full-scale war, the population was 229 people;

• the village of Pokrovske. Before the full-scale war, the population was 177 people.

Currently, the Defense Forces of Ukraine continue combat operations against the occupiers there. In particular, the Ukrainian defenders struck the area of concentration of Russian manpower, weapons and equipment on the spit, and also destroyed the Russian invaders and enemy equipment there

Vitalii Kim, the head of Mykolayiv RMA, said that the release of the Kinburn spit is a matter of time, «and not a very long one». This was also confirmed by the speaker of the Defense Forces of the South, Nataliia Humeniuk.

At the same time, the Russian occupiers continue to shell and mine the protected territory of the Kinburn Peninsula. Almost daily, wild animals are blown up by landmines there, and there are cases of human casualties. This is stated in the article NikVesti «On the verge of destruction: How the protected Kinburn spit suffers from the actions of the occupiers».

During the entire period of occupation, forests on the Kinburn spit occasionally burned. The situation is usually complicated by the fact that the Russian occupiers did not allow rescuers to put out the fire, so fires can last for weeks. At the same time, as noted in RMA, Mykolaiv Oblast cannot help extinguish fires there, as all fire departments and equipment that can get there are located in the occupied territories of Kherson Oblast.

The red book orchids, other unique plants and animals were under threat because of the fires in Kinburn, reported the ombudsman Liudmila Denisova.

After the deoccupation, the Kinburn spit will need time to restore nature on its own, reported in «Biloberezhja Svyatoslav». This will take place during the period while demining of the protected area continues.

Currently, according to preliminary estimates of the Ukrainian authorities, about 200 people live on the occupied Kinburn Peninsula, but contact with them has been completely lost.

Major General of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Dmytro Marchenko stated that the temporarily occupied Kinburn spit in the Mykolayiv region is currently included in the complex of offensive actions.