Ukrainian forces are preparing for a battle to free the southern city of Kherson from Russian occupiers, and aim to do it on their own terms.

The strategy holds much risk but, if successful, would improve Kyiv’s ability to defend its country, win foreign support and potentially negotiate better terms of an eventual peace deal.

Ukraine is building forces outside Kherson, even as larger battles continue in the eastern region of Donbas, under a strategy that suggests growing confidence. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has for weeks repeatedly outlined his goal of retaking Kherson, and Ukrainian troops have openly targeted local bridges and other infrastructure the Russians are using to supply and reinforce the area…

Around Kherson, Ukraine won’t engage Russian forces head-on, said Mykhailo Podolyak, a Ukrainian presidential adviser. Instead, Kyiv’s forces are chipping away at Russian might in the region, he said, inflicting “a thousand bee stings.”

“You grind down and destroy enemy personnel and vehicles,” Mr. Podolyak said in an interview. “You gradually squeeze them out.”