Southern Ukraine’s Kherson Oblast remains highly tense as the Russian forces employ artillery, aviation, and various types of UAVs to exert pressure on the Ukrainian defenders, as reported by Nataliia Humeniuk, the head of the joint press center of the Operational Command “South,” on Ukrainian TV, according to Ukrinform.

In Kherson Oblast, the Ukrainian forces have been holding a bridgehead on the Russian-controlled eastern bank of the Dnipro River for months while the Russians have been trying to eliminate it. Additionally, on a daily basis, Russians have been bombarding Kherson city and multiple other Ukraine-controlled settlements in the region.

“The situation remains quite tense. The enemy is trying to compensate for the pressure with artillery, aviation, using unmanned aerial vehicles of various modifications from strike to those carrying fragmentation ammunition,” she said.

Humeniuk explained that the Russian forces are trying to compensate for the days “when time was lost due to [bad] weather conditions.”

The spokesperson highlighted an increase in Russia’s UAV activity, with over 30 drones observed, including FPV drones and drones dropping shrapnel munitions. She further mentioned that the enemy had escalated drone usage not only in Kherson Oblast but also in the direction of Mykolaiv Oblast’s Ochakiv district, employing drones as well as artillery to exert pressure on the defenders.

“It is harder for them to do this now, because our counter-battery work was quite effective yesterday. A Grad multiple rocket launcher, seven artillery guns, two self-propelled artillery systems, and 11 units of armored vehicles were destroyed,” she said.