Russia drained the Kakhovka Reservoir. Now it hides in the dry bed to creep toward Zaporizhzhia
A frontline commander expects small Russian groups to slip into the city by winter. A leading analyst calls that far too categorical—and says the front is moving the other way.
Sources indicate that Russian infantry could infiltrate the regional capital Zaporizhzhia during the winter months, according to a mid-September interview with Dnipro TV. The commander behind this forecast, Dmytro Filatov, claims solitary groups will reach and enter Zaporizhzhia over the winter. However, a military analyst cautioned that this prediction seems overly confident given the current situation.
The key factor in this scenario is the drained Kakhovka Reservoir, which Russia now utilizes as cover for its operations. Dmytro Filatov, who commands the 1st Separate Assault Regiment named after Dmytro Kotsiubailo, explained that small groups of infantry will probe for gaps in Ukrainian defenses rather than launching large-scale assaults.
The dense drone surveillance has made large mechanized attacks costly, pushing Russian commanders toward smaller probing forces. These solitary groups exploit the unwatched terrain, such as the drained reservoir bed, to test weaknesses in Ukrainian defenses. Local commander Filatov mentioned the Stepnohirsk axis and the dense buildings along the Dnipro shore as potential infiltration points.
While Zaporizhzhia is a key industrial city with a population of over 700,000, it sits only 25 kilometers from the nearest active front, making it an attractive target for Russian forces. Despite daily Russian missile, drone, and glide bomb attacks, Zaporizhzhia has held against the invasion since 2022.
Written by urgent.news from Euromaidan Press's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
