Ukraine’s intelligence agencies report that hundreds, possibly thousands, of Russian troops stationed on strategically important islands are trapped and largely abandoned by their commanders, dying from starvation and Ukrainian attacks – with more than 5,000 killed since January.
Russian troops seized the islands, in effect reed-covered marshes, following Ukraine’s successful November 2022 counteroffensive that drove them out of the southern city of Kherson and back across the river.
The right bank is held by Ukraine, while the low-lying, flood-prone left bank remains under Russian control.
Holding the islands was meant to let Russia deploy small intelligence teams and set up communication and relay stations to extend the operational range of its unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).
In another example of Moscow’s military miscalculation, supplying, relieving, or withdrawing these teams has become nearly impossible. The terrain offers little natural cover from air attacks, leaving Russian soldiers with nowhere to hide as drone strikes, artillery fire, and commando raids take their toll.
Guided by troops on the Dnipro River’s right bank and supported by drones, Ukraine’s forces have been targeting Russian soldiers hiding on the islands or attempting desperate escapes.
Marooned on islands of death
“The area is a death zone for Russia – there is nowhere to hide,” Col. Oleksandr Zavtonov of Ukraine’s 30th Marine Corps told The Telegraph.
Zavtonov cited testimonies from captured Russian fighters who described the harsh conditions.
“The prisoners that our fighters have recently taken on the islands talked about an inability to deliver food and drinking water to them – they have to drink water from the river,” he added.
The Telegraph report shows videos that show Russian soldiers wrapped in makeshift camouflage trying to escape in tiny boats – which some reports suggest the troops have had to buy themselves – as Ukrainian surveillance drones bide their time before calling in Kamikaze drones that pounce destroying the vessels and their passengers in a series of explosions.
Oksana Kuzan, the head of the analytical department of Ukraine’s Security and Cooperation Centre said: “Russian military units remaining on the islands in the Dnipro delta are facing serious problems with food, ammunition and troop rotations.”
It is thought that Russian troops from its 98th Airborne Division and marines from the 61st Separate Brigade were deployed to the islands in April, if not before and have been unable to be relieved since then.
With winter fast approaching attempts in September and earlier this month to land replacement troops and resupply its beleaguered troops under cover of bad weather were cut to pieces by Ukrainian forces – both Zavtonov and Kuzan said. The dire situation of the Russian occupiers will only get worse as temperatures drop in the coming months.