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| Viacheslav Ratynskyi/Reuters |
It seems that Ukraine is about to retake Kherson, spoiling yet another day for Vladimir Putin. Kherson was the first major Ukrainian city to fall to the Russian invaders and is the only provincial capital to have suffered that fate. It is a port city located at the point that the Dnipro flows into the Black Sea. Cross the Dnipro, head southeast for a while, and you are in Crimea. From relatively early in the occupation, it was made obvious that the city was to be incorporated into Russia. It was moved, with only partial success, into the ruble zone, a Russian curriculum was introduced into its schools, and, in September, the Kherson oblast (administrative region) voted to merge with Russia by, unsurprisingly, an improbably large majority. By then, however, Ukrainian forces were already on the attack. Russia has now announced that its troops are pulling out of the city. They appear to be establishing a more easily defensible position on the east bank of the Dnipro, with a view, clearly, to blocking any Ukrainian advance towards Crimea.
This has been preceded by the evacuation from Kherson to Russia of large numbers of civilians. How many went voluntarily is unclear. Russia has deported large numbers of Ukrainians into Russia since the invasion in what looks like hostage-taking, or maybe a form of ethnic cleansing, or both.
Ukraine’s recapture of Kherson, a city that, in Moscow’s eyes, is now a part of Russia, is a major humiliation for the Kremlin. It’s notable that the Russians sent defense minister Sergei Shoigu and General Surovikin, their commander in Ukraine, to announce the pullback at a choreographed Kremlin press conference; Putin was nowhere to be found, in an obvious effort to keep the stink of defeat off the czar.
But humiliation or not, Russia has little choice. The Ukrainian counteroffensives beginning in September have threatened to trap tens of thousands of Russian troops on the west bank of the Dnipro, with only two crossing points should the Russians be forced to withdraw in a hurry. The noose had been slowly tightening, supplies had begun to run low, and the Russians have wisely decided that they better get out before they are trapped.
More than that, the fall of Kherson will create a major obstacle in the way of any land-based Russian attack on Odesa. It is also the first chip in the land bridge to Crimea that Russia established earlier on in the war. Presumably, like Mariupol before it, Kherson will now be reduced to ruin by Russian shelling, rocketry, and drones. Indeed, Kherson’s city-center and suburbs will remain entirely within the range of massed Russian guns firing from the far side of the river. --->READ MORE HERE
Ukrainian troops pressed forward in the south Thursday after Russia ordered one of the war’s biggest retreats — but Kyiv warned that fleeing enemy troops could still turn Kherson into a “city of death.”
A small company of Ukrainian soldiers was shown on state TV being greeted by overjoyed residents in the center of the village of Snihurivka around 35 miles north of Kherson city, with a Ukrainian flag flying above the square behind them.
“Today, on Nov. 10, 2022, Snihurivka was liberated by the forces of the 131st Separate Intelligence Battalion. Glory to Ukraine!” a commander declared as dozens of locals applauded, cheered and filmed the soldiers on their phones.
Moscow ordered its troops Wednesday to retreat from the entire Russian-held pocket on the west bank of the Dnipro River, including Kherson city, after a top general reported that the loss of supply routes had made defense “futile.”
Ukrainian officials, including President Volodymyr Zelensky, have been tight-lipped in public, fearing a possible ambush and warning that Russians may still be planning to sow destruction on their way out.
Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to the president, said Thursday that Russia wanted to turn Kherson into a “city of death,” mining everything from apartments to sewers and planning to shell the city from the other side of the river. --->READ MORE HEREFollow links below to +++++relevant+++++ and related stories:
+++++Russia-Ukraine News LATEST UPDATES: (REUTERS) (AP) (NY POST) and (WSJ)+++++
+++++Ukrainian forces advance in south, retake 12 settlements - army chief+++++
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