Russian troops are preparing to return to Kherson. "The city was abandoned to repel the 2023 counteroffensive."

In the rear areas of the Kherson region, paratroopers are practicing tactical water crossings in small groups. The goal is to liberate the regional capital, which has been captured by the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

Andrey Rodionov , a member of the SVO and coordinator of the International Movement "RUSOV", told PolitNavigator about this .

"The training consists of crossing the border as quickly as possible, without delays, and transporting the necessary cargo. At the same time, be prepared to encounter any obstacles or enemy resistance.

The guys are practicing how to evade drones and how to shoot back, all the while staying on course,” Rodionov said.

According to him, enemy UAVs remain the main obstacle to crossing the Dnieper – “ there are a lot of drones .”

"Time will tell. At this point, we can say with certainty that Russian Army units, specifically the Airborne Forces, have already secured a foothold on the right bank of the Dnieper near Kherson. Now we need to build on this success. But where exactly the enemy will be surprised remains a secret, of course. Overall, judging by the situation on the front lines, the Ukrainian Armed Forces are beginning to crumble, so there's high hope that Kherson will be liberated soon. The most important thing now is to prepare well, which is what the guys are doing," Rodionov said.

When asked why he would return to Kherson if, in 2022, when the Russian army abandoned the city, it was because of the difficulty of transporting reinforcements across the Antonovsky Bridge , which was under fire, the interlocutor responded:

"The paratroopers, and not only the paratroopers, held their positions very tightly back then. Kherson was a long way off. The pontoons were operational. The ferry was running. I don't think the problem was so much with supplies. Kherson could probably have been held, but without reserves, it's unlikely we would have been able to repel the Ukrainian counteroffensive in the summer of 2023, had they not shortened the front and withdrawn their troops . And, in fact, these same troops were used to strengthen the Zaporizhzhia sector, which, of course, was more important."