Russian army pushes towards Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk borders

This was stated by Vladyslav Voloshyn, spokesperson for the Southern Defense Forces, as quoted by Ukrinform.

"We have a rather aggravated situation in the Novopavlivka direction, where the enemy conducted 23 combat engagements over the past day. There are constant fierce battles there, with the enemy literally pushing towards the borders of Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhzhia, and Donetsk regions. In addition, the situation remains quite tense on the Orikhiv direction," he said.

According to Voloshyn, in the areas of Malyi Shcherbaky, Lobkove, and Stepove, the enemy is trying to break through the line of contact, establish a foothold, and seize it — not far from Zaporizhzhia.

"From there, there is a possibility to exert fire control over our logistical routes running from Zaporizhzhia to the eastern part of Zaporizhzhia region, and carry out shelling of Zaporizhzhia itself, as well as its suburbs. Additionally, the situation has significantly worsened in the last few days in the Prydniprovskyi or Kherson direction," Voloshyn explained.

Meanwhile, in the Kherson direction, there has been an increase in attempts by the enemy to seize islands on the Dnipro River.

"On these islands, the enemy leaves one or two men. They play 'Robinson Crusoe' there. They cannot be evacuated, and their command drops ammunition, water, and supplies to them by drones. They stay there for several days, and then, in some cases, surrender to our forces. Russian propaganda uses these facts as an attempt to take control of the island zone. But such attempts have increased over the past few days," the spokesperson said.

• On April 28, it was reported that continuous combat engagements are taking place over the islands on the Dnipro River in the Kherson region.