Ukrainian forces enter Kherson after Russian withdrawal

The Ukrainian army began entering Kherson, a major city in the south of the country, today (Friday), after the withdrawal of Russian forces, the Ukrainian Defense Ministry announced, in another strong setback for Moscow, nearly nine months after the start of the Russian invasion of the country.

“Kherson is returning to Ukrainian control… Units of Ukrainian forces enter the city,” the ministry wrote on Facebook.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba wrote on Twitter: “Ukraine is scoring another important victory at the moment, and is proving that whatever Russia says or does, Ukraine will win,” according to Agence France-Presse.

Later, the Russian army announced the withdrawal of more than 30,000 Russian soldiers from the Kherson region, leaving the right bank of the Dnipro River to deploy on its left bank.

“More than 30,000 Russian soldiers and about 5,000 weapons and military vehicles have been withdrawn” from the western bank of the Dnipro River, the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement.

The ministry had said in a previous statement on social media: “Today, at 5:00 am Moscow time (0200 GMT), the transfer of Russian soldiers to the left bank of the Dnipro River was completed… Not a single piece of military equipment and weapons was left on the bank.” the right-hand side,” but it seems that there is a plot behind this withdrawal; Vladimir Putin announced at the end of September, during a ceremony in the Kremlin, and then in another celebration on Red Square, which included 4 Ukrainian regions, including Kherson.

The Russian president also warned that Russia will defend “by all means” what it considers part of its territory, threatening to resort to nuclear weapons.

In the face of a Ukrainian counterattack that began at the end of the summer, the Russian army announced, on Wednesday, that it would withdraw from the northern part of the Kherson region, including the capital of the region of the same name located on the right bank of the Dnipro River, in order to strengthen its positions on the other side of this river.

Despite this, the Kherson region will remain “belonging to the Russian Federation,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday.

The decision to withdraw to southern Ukraine is of great importance, with Vladimir Putin giving on September 21 an order to call up about 300,000 reservists to reinforce the Russian front lines.

On Wednesday, the Ukrainian army recaptured 12 villages in the Ukrainian region of Kherson, the commander of the Ukrainian army, Valery Zaluzhny, announced on Thursday.

The Ukrainian General Staff contented itself with saying, on Friday morning, that its attack during the day was “ongoing”, and that its results would be announced “later.”

Ukraine has been wary over the past two days about the Russian withdrawal from Kherson, fearing that it would be a trick, or that the Russian army would mine the area to make it difficult for the Ukrainian forces to return.