KIEV, February 25. /TASS/. The Ukrainian forces are conducting a defense operation in the south of the country, Ukrainian Commander-in-Chief Valery Zaluzhny said on Friday.

In his words, as of 01:00 Moscow time on Friday, "certain units are engaged in defensive battles in the region east of Kherson." "As of now, mechanized units of the Ukrainian Armed Forces have recaptured a car bridge and consolidated their positions on the left bank of the Dnepr River," he said

According to the official, a Ukrainian Navy task force continues its combat mission in the southwest section of the Black Sea, defending the bases and ports of Odessa, Yuzhny, Ochakov and Chernomorsk. Certain forces and equipment have been redeployed to defend the capital Kiev.