Russia retreats from Kherson in major setback for Putin
Russia has ordered its troops to retreat from the Ukrainian port city of Kherson in a major setback for Vladimir Putin’s war effort.
Russian general Sergei Surovikin today said it was no longer possible to supply the city and the western bank of the River Dnipro.
Kherson, which had a pre-war population of 280,000, was the only provincial capital that was held by Russian forces.
Kherson city is the capital of Kherson oblast – one of four regions that Russia annexed on 30 September – and fell to the Russians in the early weeks of the war.
Surovikin said the withdrawal would happen at “the earliest possible juncture”.
“We will save the lives of our soldiers and fighting capacity of our units,” he said in a statement.
“Keeping them on the right bank is futile. Some of them can be used on other fronts.”
It comes after a major Ukrainian counteroffensive that began on 29 August and has seen Kyiv’s troops pushing back Russian artillery across the country.
Mikhailo Podolyak, an adviser to Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky, sounded a cautious note after the announcement of the retreat.
“The statement of the Russian command can mean both the adoption of a political decision, and it can be a trap — turning out to be blurring our eyes before being drawn into urban battles,” he said.
“Until the Ukrainian flag is flying over Kherson, it makes no sense to talk about a Russian withdrawal.”
Russia does not have full control of the four Ukrainian regions it has annexed in the East, while its army continues to suffer large amounts of troop casualties.
Putin called for the mobilisation of reserve troops in September, with the aim to send another 300,000 men into Ukraine.
The Russian President has also stepped up his threats of using a nuclear weapon in Ukraine in recent months as his invasion continues to stall.