Ukraine is attempting to retake a crucial spit of land that could disrupt Russia's missile barrages

A photo of Ukraine's Kinburn Spit, taken before the war.

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• Ukraine is trying to take over a small strip of land that would give it a big strategic advantage.
• The Kinburn Spit has been a site for Russian missile launches, and offers control of Ukraine's main river.
• Ukraine has launched an operation there, and Forbes reported that some Ukrainians landed.

Ukraine is trying to take control of a strategic spit of land that would allow it to take command of a major river and thwart Russia's missile strikes parts of the country.

Ukraine has confirmed that is trying to regain control of the Kinburn Spit — a thin stretch of land across much of the mouth of the Dnipro river that it lost to Russia in June. 

Ukrainian officials have said that it would release no details on the operation until it had concluded. Forbes reported on Thursday that Ukrainian commandos landed in small boats on the spit in an amphibious attack.

It did not say how big or well-armed a landing party was. It was also not clear how much of a defense Russia was making.

But if Ukraine were to retake the Kinburn Spit, it would get a significant new advantage.

Russia has been using the strip for its missile and artillery strikes nearby Ukrainian cities, according to a recent update from The Institute for the Study of War.

A map showing where the Kinburn Spit is in relation to the Black Sea and the city of Kherson.

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Ukraine regaining the peninsula would "relieve" those areas from Russia's strikes by putting them out of range, it said.

Russia has heavily relied on artillery and missile strikes for its entire invasion, and in recent weeks has wages an intense campaign of missile and drone strikes on residential areas, seemingly aimed at knocking out electricity and water supplies to civilians.

Depriving Russia of the Kinburn Spit would degrade Russia's ability to strike some regions, per the ISW, though it wouldn't end Russian strikes in of itself.

Whoever gets the peninsula also gains significant control over the entrance to the Dnipro, Ukraine's most significant waterway, the ISW noted.

Russia currently controls most of the area east of the river, with Ukraine controlling the west after it retook the city of Kherson earlier this month.

—Ministry of Defence 🇬🇧 (@DefenceHQ) November 23, 2022

 

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