Ukrainian troops, after recapturing much of the southern part of the country, are now fighting to oust Russian forces from their last stronghold in Mykolaiv Oblast, The Drive has reported.

One of the steps in that process is the attempted liberation of the Kinburn Spit, which is a strategic chokepoint that controls access to the key ports of Kherson City and Mykolaiv and from which Russian troops have routinely carried out missile and artillery strikes against nearby Ukrainian positions.

"Control of the Kinburn Spit would allow Ukrainian forces to relieve Russian strikes on the Ukrainian-controlled Black Sea coast, increase naval activity in the area, and conduct potential operations to cross to the left (east) bank in Kherson Oblast under significantly less Russian artillery fire compared to a crossing of the Dnipro River," according to the Institute for the Study of War.

Nataliya Humenyuk, spokesperson for Ukraine's Operational Command South, said that rough weather, is helping the operation, explaining as well that "the sea helps us. The enemy cannot gain a foothold there, because the Armed Forces inflict damage on the enemy's points."

Another factor in Ukraine's favor, she added, is that "the spit does not provide for the location of a large number of buildings where it is possible to gain a foothold and hold on. We allow only the storm to make noise, and everyone to observe silence."

A significant Ukrainian advance on the Kinburn Peninsula would put its armed forces across the Dnipro River, about 100 miles northwest of Crimea.

Ukrainian officials have promised to liberate Crimea after more than eight years of Russian occupation. That could help them bypass some of the defensive positions the Kremlin has been building up as it retreated east of the Dnipro.

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