Ukraine announced reoccupations in Kherson, Moscow, confirming its withdrawal

Ukraine announced on Thursday that it had recaptured a dozen villages in the Kherson region in the country’s south, where Moscow confirmed it had begun its withdrawal, a fresh setback for Vladimir Putin’s army.

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At midday, the commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian army, Valery Zaluzny, announced on Wednesday that his forces “captured six areas in the direction of seven km, Petropavlivka-Novoraysk” and “captured six areas”. Under the direction of Pervomaiske-Kherson’.

Shortly before, the Russian army announced that it had begun its withdrawal from the Kherson region, moving its forces from the right (west) bank to the left bank of the Dnieper River, behind which a natural barrier formed the Moscow defense line.

“Units of the Russian army are maneuvering towards positions established on the left bank of the Dnieper River,” the Russian Defense Ministry said.

Announced on Wednesday, the withdrawal will involve departures from the provincial capital Kherson on the Right Bank.

The general in charge of Russia’s offensive in Ukraine, Sergei Surovikin, announced a “very quick” withdrawal to save “the life of every Russian soldier,” without giving a timetable.

On the Ukrainian side, the announcement was received without success and cautiously, kyiv suspected a trap. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky responded Wednesday with “extreme caution.”

Kremlin silence

“We cannot confirm or deny information about the withdrawal of Russian troops from Kherson,” Ukrainian General Staff spokesman General Oleksiy Gromov told the press on Thursday. But he also noted that with his back to the Dnieper, the Russians had “no choice but to flee.”

Residents of Mykolayiv, a large southern city about a hundred kilometers northwest of Kherson, are equally suspicious.

“We can’t trust, nobody gives us anything back,” a saleswoman named Svitlana Kiritchenko told AFP.

“That’s the height of stupidity. It doesn’t make sense in my mind,” argued 59-year-old mechanic Igor Kosorotov.

For its part, the Kremlin had no comment, and its spokesman’s daily briefing was canceled on Thursday.

US President Joe Biden, for his part, considered the withdrawal announcement “proof that (the Russians) have real problems”.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg hailed the Russian withdrawal from Rome as a “new victory” for Kyiv.

The exit from Kherson, if confirmed, would be a new serious setback for Moscow, which was already forced to leave the Kharkiv region (northeast) in September.

Especially since Vladimir Putin claimed in late September that he had captured four Ukrainian regions, including Kherson, and on September 21 ordered the mobilization of some 300,000 reservists to consolidate Russian lines.

And the Russian president has warned that Russia will defend what it now considers its territory “by all means”.

Since the summer, the Ukrainian army, heavily armed with Western weapons, has gradually overwhelmed the Russian forces, particularly by striking the bridges needed to supply the troops on the west bank of the Dnieper.

A window for negotiations?

In the Donbass, Russia has been trying for weeks to take the city of Bakhmaut, a city of 70,000 residents before the invasion.

“For the last three days it has become more complicated,” Vitaly, a 26-year-old Ukrainian soldier, told AFP. “Although our men hold their positions, the Russians are advancing more and more,” he said from Bakhmaut.

Kyiv’s victories have also revived speculation that peace talks could resume, with some media also saying the West is pressuring Ukraine to resume them.

“100,000 Russian soldiers were killed and wounded,” US military official General Mark Milley told the New York Economic Club on Wednesday. “Probably the same thing on the Ukrainian side,” he added.

“There must be a mutual recognition that military victory cannot, in the proper sense of the word, be achieved by military means,” added General Milley, believing there was a “window of opportunity for negotiations.”

In a sign of a change of tone after US presidential adviser Jake Sullivan visited Kyiv on Friday, President Zelensky listed his conditions on Monday for the resumption of talks with Moscow, including the withdrawal of his troops from Ukrainian territory.