Ukrainian troops say Russians digging in to defend Kherson

Squatting in a weed-choked irrigation canal, concealed from prowling enemy drones by overhanging trees, a Ukrainian soldier scoffed at the prospect that reclaiming the Russian-held port city of Kherson would be a cakewalk.

"The situation on the frontline itself is very tense, the enemy has dug itself in on their positions and at the moment it seems they do not intend to leave. It is noticeable that they work to reinforce their dug outs, trenches and fortifications. They use heavy artillery, heavy weapons and mortars," said a commander of a frontline unit who identified himself with his nom de guerre Nikifor.

He and others in the unit holding positions north of Kherson told a visiting Reuters reporter on Wednesday (October 26) that rather than seeing the Russians preparing to retreat, they have watched them bolstering their lines, helped by newly mobilised conscripts.

Sporadic exchanges of artillery fire resounded over the vast stretches of weed-choked fields and hedge rows dividing Nikifor's men and the Russians south of the Ukrainian-held city of Mykolaiv.

"They are reinforcing their positions, especially on the flanks," Angel, the nom de guerre of a bearded Ukrainian officer, said outside his unit's command post in a semi-destroyed village, most of whose residents fled months ago.

The location cannot be identified under Ukrainian military regulations.

Russian forces have been under pressure from long-range artillery and rocket fire by from advancing Ukrainian troops who began moving in mid-August to reclaim Kherson, which sits on the west bank of the sprawling Dnipro River, and its district.

The city's loss would be another in a string of defeats for Russian President Vladimir Putin, who last month proclaimed Kherson province and three other partially occupied regions part of Russia even as Ukrainian forces reclaims large swaths of territory.

Expectations rose last week that Russian forces were girding to relinquish Kherson - the only major city they took in the “special military operation” Putin launched in February - when Moscow-appointed occupation authorities began evacuating tens of thousands of residents by ferries to the Dnipro’s east bank.