MOSCOW, February 21. /TASS/. The liberation of Krynki in the Kherson Region by Russian troops leaves no chances for the Ukrainian military to carry out a successful offensive in that direction, Editor-in-Chief of the National Defense magazine, military expert Igor Korotchenko told TASS on Wednesday.

"The main thing is that we are holding the bridgehead, from which the Ukrainian armed forces planned further offensive operations against Russian troops by beefing up reserves and expanding it. That is why, the elimination of that bridgehead actually shows that Ukraine’s chances for any offensive operations that could crown with success have been reduced to nothing," the expert stressed.

Earlier, Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu reported to President Vladimir Putin that Russian troops had liberated the settlement of Krynki in the Kherson Region. In an interview with TASS Editor-in-Chief Mikhail Petrov, the defense minister said that the liberation of Krynki actually put an end to Ukraine’s counteroffensive.

The Ukrainian military had been attempting to gain a foothold in Krynki on the left bank of the Dnieper River after the Kakhovka dam was breached. Local residents had left the community by that time. The Ukrainian military had been sending increasingly new forces to gain a foothold on the bridgehead but had no success due to Russian artillery’s intensive fire.

President Putin earlier said he was surprised by Kiev’s tactic of sending ever new fighters, moreover, well-trained personnel, for destruction. The Russian leader said on December 14 that the presence of Ukrainian troops in the Krynki area would soon end.