The Ukrainian military claimed to have killed scores of Russian soldiers and destroyed two ammunition dumps during fighting in the Kherson region, the focus of Kyiv's southern counter-offensive and a vital link in Moscow's supply lines.
Rail traffic to Kherson over the Dnipro River had been cut, the military's southern command said, potentially further isolating Russian forces west of the river from supplies in occupied Crimea and the east.
Ukraine has used western-supplied long-range missile systems to badly damage three bridges across the Dnipro in recent weeks, cutting off Kherson city and - in the assessment of British defence officials - leaving Russia's 49th Army stationed on the west bank of the river highly vulnerable.
"As a result of fire establishing control over the main transport links in occupied territory, it has been established that traffic over the rail bridge crossing the Dnipro is not possible," Ukraine's southern command said in a statement.
It said more than 100 Russian soldiers and seven tanks had been destroyed in fighting yesterday in the Kherson region, the first major town captured by the Russians following their 24 February invasion.
The first deputy head of the Kherson regional council, Yuri Sobolevsky, told residents to stay from away from Russian ammunition dumps.
"The Ukrainian army is pouring it on against the Russians and this is only the beginning," he wrote on Telegram.
The pro-Ukrainian governor of Kherson region, Dmytro Butriy, said Berislav district was particularly hard hit. Berislav is across the river northwest of the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant.
"In some villages, not a single home has been left intact, all infrastructure has been destroyed, people are living in cellars," he wrote on the Telegram app.
Reuters was unable to independently verify the reports and officials from the Russian-appointed administration running the Kherson region earlier this week rejected western and Ukrainian assessments of the situation.
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