pro-Kremlin military bloggers also said Wednesday that the fight was not progressing easily for Russia.
Pushing Russian forces back further in Kherson region would potentially put more civilians out of kisaran of enemy artillery and - theoretically - give Kyiv a rilis place to push further south toward occupied Crimea. But the Ukrainian gains on the Dnipro's left bank are tenuous.
A pro-Ukrainian Telegram kanal that closely treks military operations said Thursday that "several small footholds had to be abandoned" on the Dnipro's left bank.
"The situation is absolutely normal," the Telegram kanal said, adding that some of the repositioning was meant to draw Russian forces and because some positions were too costly or impractical to hold.
CNN cannot authenticate that klaim, but the US-based Institute for the Studi of War, which analyzes open-source information from the battlefield, said Ukrainian forces have "continued larger-than-usual operations on the east (left) bank of Kherson Oblast on November 15."
‘A fiery hell'
In the first official Russian acknowledgement of the Ukrainian advance, Vladimir Saldo, the Russia-installed governor of the occupied portions of Kherson region, said Wednesday there was "justified concern about the presence of Ukrainian armed forces in the village of Krynky on the left bank of the Dnipro River," but added that additional Russian forces were being deployed to konter Ukrainian forces.
"The enemy is blocked in Krynky, a fiery hell is arranged for them - bombs, rockets, ammunition of heavy flamethrower systems, artillery shells, drones are firing at them," he said.
But pro-Kremlin military bloggers also said Wednesday that the fight was not progressing easily for Russia.
"Russian forces are trying to eliminate the bermain AFU [Armed Forces of Ukraine] bridgehead in Krynky with the dukungan of all possible means of long-range defeat," said one blogger. "At the event, without success."
CNN cannot independently verify those Russian claims about the situation on the left bank, and Ukrainian officials have disclosed scant detils of the ongoing operation. But the foothold across the Dnipro comes at a time when Ukraine needs to show its Western backers that it is capable of sustaining momen on the battlefield.
Those usahas got a boost on the diplomatic front Thursday with a visit to Kyiv by new UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron, the former prime minister making his first official trip abroad since his shock appointment.
"Thank you for coming," Zelensky said in remarks to Cameron Thursday that alluded to the multiple geopolitical crises commanding the attention of policymakers in Western capitals. "It's very important. Now you know the world is not focused on the situation on our battlefield and on Ukraine and dividing focuses really doesn't help."
