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The Ukrainian Army claimed to have retaken control of the city of Kherson on November 11, two days after the Russian Defense Ministry ordered its troops to move to the left bank of the Dnieper River. kyiv hails Moscow’s move as a victory, though it remains skeptical and on high alert.
The Russian Army completed the withdrawal of its troops in the north of the annexed Kherson region, as confirmed on Friday, November 11, by the spokesman for the Russian Ministry of Defense, Igor Konashénkov.
The Russian general explained that his country’s troops were located west of the Dnieper River, placing the natural border as the new battle front in the Russian-Ukrainian conflict.
Ukrainian forces conducted an offensive with five HIMARS missiles during the Russian deployment. No casualties or injuries were reported during the attacks by Ukraine.
Konashenkov added that his artillery and aviation forces have stopped new advance attempts by Ukrainian forces some 40 kilometers from the new border marked in the conflict.
Konashénkov said that his Army did not leave any military pieces abandoned in the evicted region. In September, Russian troops withdrew early from the eastern Kharkov region, leaving behind a large quantity of weapons and military vehicles, actions that were strongly criticized by kyiv.
During the last weeks, Russia could not guarantee the defense of Kherson after the beginning of an aggressive offensive by Ukraine to recover its territory.
This region had been annexed by Moscow at the end of September after some disputed referendums were held.
The Russian Defense Ministry spokesman said that more than 115,000 civilians were evacuated from the area in recent weeks, while the pro-Russian authorities in Kherson estimated that between 80,000 and 100,000 people are still in the city.
For his part, the commander of the Russian forces in Ukraine, Sergey Surovikin, accepted that the withdrawal of the troops he commands from Kherson is the biggest defeat suffered by Moscow since the beginning of the invasion on February 24.
Mistrust remains on the part of Ukraine
Serhiy Khlan, a deputy from the Kherson Regional Council, said some Russian soldiers have not been able to leave the area, for which they were forced to wear civilian clothes, without giving a figure for how many were military.
He added that this is a warning sign, since it could be a sabotaging strategy on the part of Russia. He also said that many of the soldiers drowned as they tried to flee across the river.
Despite the triumph that the withdrawal of Russian troops may represent, the Ukrainian authorities have reacted skeptically to the news, assuring that the withdrawal could be an ambush.
In addition, Ukraine has claimed that Russian troops left the minefield. “The enemy does not give us anything (…). We achieved all this by fighting,” said Volodymyr Zelenski, the Ukrainian president.
The Russian flag was replaced by the Ukrainian one and now flies in the center of Kherson, in the Freedom Square, while the inhabitants seek to return to normality, according to the Ukrainian portal ‘Ukrinform’.
Ukrainian troops have achieved the liberation of 12 settlements in the region and the destruction of the Antonivsky Bridge, a key supply route for Russia in southern Ukraine.
Despite the withdrawal in Kherson, Russia will continue with its “special operation”
The Kremlin has refused to comment on the withdrawal of Russian troops from the northern Kherson region. During his daily conference call, the spokesman for the Russian Presidency, Dmitri Peskov, said that the decision had been made by the Ministry of Defense and that it was not his responsibility to respond on that issue.
He also said that Kherson remains “an entity of the Russian Federation”, since according to the spokesman, it was fixed by the legislation of his country and they do not intend to make any changes to modify its status.
He added that the so-called “special operation” in Ukraine will continue to run and that they will continue with the attacks until they achieve their objectives set at the beginning of the invasion.
With EFE and Reuters
