Russian forces are reportedly withdrawing from parts of the Kinburn Spit in southern Ukraine’s Mykolaiv region after Ukrainian strikes disrupted supply routes to the area.
Atesh, a Ukrainian partisan movement, said Monday that units of Russia’s 337th Regiment had begun leaving positions due to logistical difficulties and personnel shortages, citing information allegedly provided by one of its agents embedded within Russia’s Dnipro Grouping of Forces.
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The partisan group said deliveries of food, fuel and ammunition to Russian positions on the spit have effectively ceased after Ukrainian forces targeted supply routes serving the area.
“The occupiers were forced to urgently evacuate from the Kinburn Spit,” Atesh wrote, adding that Russian troops remaining on the peninsula no longer have sufficient personnel to maintain defensive positions.
The claim came amid reports of intensified Ukrainian mid-range attacks against Russian supply routes to occupied Ukraine, including those supplying the Crimea peninsula and eastern Ukraine’s Luhansk region.
Where’s the Kinburn Spit?
The Kinburn Spit is a narrow sandy peninsula stretching between the Black Sea and the Dnipro-Buh estuary, roughly 60 kilometers (37 miles) southwest of the city of Mykolaiv.
It is positioned at the Dnipro River’s outlet into the Black Sea.
While most of the Mykolaiv region remains under Ukrainian control, Russian forces have occupied the spit since the early months of the full-scale invasion in 2022.
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Why is the Kinburn Spit a big deal?
Observers argued that the spit could pave the way for the liberation of Crimea.
In late 2025, Ukrainian Navy spokesperson Dmytro Pletenchuk called it “an important strategic point” for Moscow as it allows it to “close the exit to the sea from the Kherson and Mykolaiv ports.”
“For them, this is an important strategic point, because due to the ability to be there, they control the Dnieper-Buz estuary, that is, they actually close the exit to the sea from the Kherson and Mykolaiv ports,” Pletenchuk said, according to state media Ukrinform.
“In addition, the Kinburn Spit is used for shelling the southern parts of the Mykolaiv region. For them, this point is important to prevent the landing of troops from our side,” he added.
In late 2022, Ukrainian commandos conducted an amphibious landing at the spit. At the time, a Forbes report argued that seizing the spit could allow Ukrainian troops to “flank the defensive positions the Russians are building on their side of the Dnipro River.”
Around the same time, an analysis published by The Conversation also noted its historical significance for Russia and argued that liberating the spit could “[open] up the recapture of Crimea.”
“Since the Russians took an active interest in this area in 1737, several major battles have been fought for control of the peninsula and the local area,” the report says.
What’s the latest development?
Atesh said elements of Russia’s 337th Regiment had suffered major casualties, where Russian fire teams stationed on the spit have struggled to counter Ukrainian drones.
The group added that some personnel had previously been redeployed to the Zaporizhzhia front, while remaining troops were being shuffled between positions without receiving reinforcements.
Kyiv has not officially commented on the claims as of early Tuesday afternoon, and Kyiv Post could not independently verify the reported withdrawal.
While attacks on Russian logistics supplying Crimea have intensified in recent weeks, there are no signs of an imminent Ukrainian offensive to retake the Crimean peninsula.
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