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Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu ordered his country’s Army on November 9 to withdraw from the city of Kherson, capital of the province of the same name in southern Ukraine, occupied by the Kremlin military since the first days of the war. . Shoigu issued the measure amid a counteroffensive by local forces to retake territory recently annexed by Moscow in disputed referendums.
Strong setback for Russia in the war it ordered against Ukraine eight months ago.
Moscow reported that it is withdrawing from Kherson, the first capital city that fell under its control in the first days of the conflict. The announcement was made by the Russian Minister of Defense, Sergei Shoigu, who referred to the need to save the life of his military.
“The life and health of our troops always take priority. Take into account the threat to the civilian population and respect the wishes of those who wish to leave. And to ensure the transfer of military equipment through the Dnipro (river), ”said the man who directs the Kremlin’s operations in the invaded country.
His surprise order also includes surrounding regions of that city and comes at a time when the Ukrainian Army is approaching and advancing with air strikes on Russian targets. Villages and towns in the area witnessed fighting and shelling on Wednesday.
Although the day before the pro-Russian authorities admitted to being outnumbered by local forces, they pointed to strong street battles in which the future of the city would be defined.
Shoigu’s statement comes hours after Russia’s top military commander in Ukraine, General Sergei Surovikin, informed the head of his country’s defense ministry that it was impossible to deliver supplies to his troops in the city of Kherson and other areas. on the western bank of the Dnieper River where his men are located.
This river flow fragments the region and practically divides Ukraine into two halves.
Shoigu agreed to his proposal to withdraw and establish defenses on the east bank of the Dnieper.
“We will save the lives of our soldiers and the fighting ability of our units. Keeping them on the right (west) bank is useless. Some of them can be used on other fronts,” Surovikin said.
The announcement marks one of the most important withdrawals from the Kremlin and a possible turning point in the war.especially just weeks after President Vladimir Putin announced the annexation “forever” of the entire Kherson region.
The Kremlin also won three other provinces of the country after disputed referendums last September: Donetsk and Lugansk, in eastern Ukraine, and Zaporizhia, in the south.
Ukraine does not lower its guard, despite Russia’s announcement in Kherson
Although the withdrawal from the city of Kherson represents a crucial victory for kyiv, the main adviser to the Presidency, Mykhailo Podolyak, said in a statement that it is still early to claim victory.
“Until the Ukrainian flag flies over Kherson, there is no point in talking about a Russian withdrawal,” Podolyak said.
Ukraine seems wary of an apparent Russian withdrawal, as in recent days President Volodymyr Zelenskiy suggested that the invading Army soldiers were faking an exit from the city to lure Ukrainian forces into battle, while Kremlin soldiers they entrenched
That observation was ratified last weekend by the spokeswoman for the Ukrainian Army, Natalia Humeniuk.
Zelensky even described Moscow’s calls for the civilian population to evacuate and go to the annexed province of Crimea or to Russia as “theatrical”.
The city, with a population of 280,000 before the war, is the only regional capital that has so far remained in the hands of Russian forces since Putin ordered the invasion on February 24.
But since the summer, Ukrainian troops have launched relentless attacks to retake parts of the larger province.
In recent months, Ukraine has used US-supplied HIMARS rocket launchers to repeatedly hit a key bridge on the Dnieper and a large upstream dam that is also used as a crossing point.
The attacks forced the Russian contingent to rely on speedboats and ferries that were also targeted by kyiv’s forces.
The Russian pullout followed weeks of Ukrainian advances into the city and a rush by Russia to relocate more than 100,000 residents.
With Reuters, AP and EFE
