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The decision is a major setback for Putin, who since February had only conquered this capital; Russian leader annexed region in late September

 

By Jovem Pan 11/09/2022 15:36

    

BULENT KILIC / AFP

Russia withdrawing troops from Kherson

Russian troops leave Kherson region after annexing it

Russia took a major setback in the war in Ukraine by ordering its troops to leave the Kherson region, the only capital the Russians had conquered since February and which was annexed by Vladimir Putin in late September because of a Ukrainian counteroffensive. The information was passed on by the defense minister on Wednesday, 9th. “Continue withdrawing the soldiers,” Minister Sergei Shoigu told General Sergei Surovikin, commander of Russian operations in Ukraine, on television, admitting that the decision to withdraw to the right bank of the Dnieper River “was not easy at all”. “The maneuvers to withdraw the soldiers will begin very quickly,” declared the military official. According to General Surovikin, Russia will organize its front line on the other bank of the Dnieper. Russian troops had already been forced to withdraw from the Kharkiv region in September.

 

Ukraine is suspicious of the Russian attitude. The adviser to the Ukrainian presidential office, Mikhail Podolyak, reacted with skepticism to the announcement. “Words speak louder than words. We see no signs that Kherson will leave her without a fight," the aide wrote on Twitter. Podolyak said Russian troops were still in the southern Ukrainian city. "Ukraine is liberating territory based on intelligence data and not on the basis of defense statements staged on television," he declared, referring to Russian Minister Sergey Shoigu's withdrawal order. General Sergey Surovikin, commander of Russian troops in Ukraine, had accepted the defense of Kherson and the surrounding area on the right bank of the Dnieper River is "impractical".

 

*With information from AFP and EFE