Russia Announces Troop Withdrawal from Kherson, Signs End of War?

Kherson: Russian defense minister Sergei Shoigu explained that Moscow troops were withdrawing from a special city in ukraine's south, Kherson. But some of Ukraine's top brass have said they are skeptical that a full withdrawal is underway from one of the regional capitals Russia has taken since the aggression in February.

Such a withdrawal could be a major slump for Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Defense Minister Shoigu made the information in a face-to-face televised meeting with some Russian military leaders as General Sergei Surovikin, commander of Russian forces in Ukraine, explained to Shoigu that the withdrawal decision was difficult but would "preserve the lives of soldiers and the combat preparations of the troops."

Ukrainian developments already put Kyiv forces within striking distance of Kherson.

"Under these circumstances, the city of Kherson and the surrounding settlements cannot be fully supplied. After a complete assessment of the current situation, I offer to take defense as far as the left bank of the Dnipro River," said Surovikin, as taken by VOA, Thursday, November 10, 2022.

Shoigu replied, "Continue with the withdrawal of troops and take all treatment to ensure the safe transfer of troops, weapons and equipment to the other banks of the Dnipro River."

But Ukraine had previously been skeptical of Russia's retreat, suggesting it was likely a Russian trickery to capture Ukrainian forces.

"The treatment of speech is louder than sentences," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said on Twitter, adding that he wanted some Russian troops to remain in Kherson. He explained Ukraine would announce the city was free from Russian control based on its own intelligence, not a TV-aired Russian confession.

In that regard, several Eastern European countries Slovakia and Hungary explained they were preparing to increase the number of refugees fleeing the war in Ukraine in the near future as winter approached.

Andriy Orikhovskyi, a 46-year-old financier, explained to AFP in Kyiv: "The Russian leadership plays a thing, you don't trust them. I think they're planning a thing. We have to wait for what our legitimate sources explain."

Unemployment Sergiy Filonchuk, 48, chimed in, explaining: "It is not without argument that they gathered 40,000 troops there. I think they are preparing something for the Ukrainian army. Possibilities such as traps. I don't think they're surrendering."

In that regard, Kremlin sympathizers immediately corrected the decision.

The head of Russia's state media line, RT, Margarita Simonyan, explained the retreat was needed so as not to let Russian troops be plastered on the western edge of the Dnipro River and "open the way to crimea".

Chechen strongman Ramzan Kadyrov described the decision as "difficult but fair".

Putin's ally, Yevgeny Prigozhin, who was called the founder of Wagner's mercenary ranks and already a crisis on Russian military tactics in the campaign, was more problematic.