Video shows Russian Troops' Dnieper Showdown With Advancing Ukraine Forces

Russia's response to Ukrainian moves on the Moscow-controlled left (east) bank of the Dnieper River has been purportedly shown in a video.

The undated clip on the outlet NOEL Reports, which covers the war in Ukraine, comes amid growing concerns within Russia at the ability of Ukrainian troops to cross the river in the Kherson oblast. Newsweek has not been able to independently verify the authenticity of the clip.

Ukrainian forces have reportedly redeployed troops near the destroyed Antonivskiy Bridge from June 23, where they have a foothold as Russian troops struggle to remove them.

The clip had been initially posted by the Telegram account named Dneprovsky Rubezh, which said it showed how an air strike was carried out on Tuesday at 2.30 p.m. on the 124th Territorial Defense Brigade on the northern outskirts of Antonovsky Island. "Targets are hit," it added.

Pro-Russian mibloggers have said that Ukrainian troops had seized the village of Dachi, opposite Kherson city and called for more vessels for Russia's Dnieper Grouping of Forces (DGF) to stop Kyiv's advances.

NOEL tweeted on Wednesday a clip it said showed how Russian forces are "trying to oust Ukrainian forces from Dachi west of the Antonivskiy bridge."

Aerial footage from different angles shows explosions to the side of the bridge. Newsweek has contacted the Ukrainian and Russian Defense Ministries for comment about the unverified video.

Last week, the Russian-installed governor of Kherson, Vladimir Saldo, posted a video on Telegram that he claimed showed Russia's forces launching an Iskander short-range ballistic missile at the bridge where Ukrainian forces were sheltering. Moscow has insisted its troops have been pushing Ukrainian forces back.

The actions of the Ukrainian forces by the river are believed to be part of an attempt to stop Russian troops from being redeployed to the front in Zaporizhzhia.

Zev Faintuch, senior intelligence analyst at the security firm Global Guardian, said Ukrainian landings on the other side of the Dnieper have been "intrinsically a success," but are part of a "first step, not necessarily a giant leap."

He said they are likely to help facilitate attacks towards Oleshky, a town Ukraine's forces need to secure to advance further in this direction.

"The idea here is more of a shaping operation and less of an immediate indicator foreshadowing a large-scale cross river with armor," he told Newsweek.

"It's still very muddy and the terrain needs to be drier before they attempt a bold, high-risk, high-reward landing operation."

Faintuch said that Ukraine would eventually need to land with heavy armor, including tanks and infantry fighting vehicles, to make an impact in southern Kherson. Ukrainian forces landing en masse into Kherson, "would mark watershed moment," he said.

This is because such a move could tie down some of Russia's forces who could have reinforced the Zaporizhzhia front, or other fronts.

However, Faintuch said that if Moscow chose to reallocate its resources to the area, it "could turn this progress around as it enjoys a huge advantage here in terms of freedom of movement and numbers."