Ukraine's southern command says more than 100 Russian soldiers and seven tanks were destroyed in fresh fighting.
Ukraine's military says it has killed scores of Russian soldiers and destroyed two ammunition dumps in the Kherson region, the focus of Kiev's counter-offensive in the south and a key link in Moscow's supply lines.
Rail traffic to Kherson over the Dnipro River has been cut, the military's southern command said on Saturday, potentially further isolating Russian forces west of the river from supplies in occupied Crimea and the east.
It said in a statement that more than 100 Russian soldiers and seven tanks were destroyed in fighting on Friday in the Kherson region, the first major town captured by the Russians following their February 24 military offensive.
Ukraine has used Western-supplied long-range missile systems to badly damage three bridges across the Dnipro in recent weeks, cutting off Kherson city.
In the assessment of British defence officials, Russia's 49th Army stationed on the west bank of the river highly vulnerable has been left vulnerable.
"...it has been established that traffic over the rail bridge crossing the Dnipro is not possible," Ukraine's southern command said.
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'Only the beginning'
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," Sobolevsky wrote on the Telegram app.
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," Butriy wrote on Telegram.
Officials from the Russian-appointed administration running the Kherson region earlier this week rejected Western and Ukrainian assessments of the situation.
Britain's Ministry of Defence said on Saturday that Russia had likely established two pontoon bridges and a ferry system to compensate for bridges damaged in Ukrainian strikes.
Russian-installed authorities in occupied territories in southern Ukraine were possibly preparing to hold referendums on joining Russia later this year, and were "likely coercing the population into disclosing personal details in order to compose voting registers," it added.
Russia and Ukraine also traded accusations on Friday over a missile strike or explosion that appeared to have killed dozens of Ukrainian prisoners, including soldiers, in eastern Donetsk province.
Forty prisoners were killed and 75 wounded at the prison in the frontline town of Olenivka held by Moscow-backed separatists, Russia's defence ministry said.
A spokesperson for the separatists put the death toll at 53 and accused Kiev of targeting the prison with US-made HIMARS rockets.
Ukraine's armed forces denied responsibility, saying Russian artillery had targeted the prison to hide the mistreatment of those held there.
READ MORE: Unidentified strikes kill dozens of Mariupol detainees, spark blame game
Source: TRTWorld and agencies
Source https://www.globalcourant.com/scores-of-russian-soldiers-killed-in-kherson-counter-offensive/?feed_id=4201&_unique_id=62e4deceb5a1a
