The Ministry of Defense had previously announced that Kherson had returned “under Ukrainian control.” The Foreign Minister, Dmytro Kulebareleased a video in which he sees, according to him, a inhabitants of the town of Bilozerkaa few kilometers from Kherson, tearing down a huge sign that proclaimed “Russia is here forever.”
This withdrawal is an “important victory” and shows that “no matter what Russia does, Ukraine is going to win” war, Kuleba stated. The Russian withdrawal, the third major since the start of the invasion of Ukraine on February 24, represents a severe setback for Russian President Vladimir Putin, which he proclaimed at the end of September the annexation of four Ukrainian regions, including Kherson.
Putin had promised to defend those regions “by all means” and threatened between the lines to resort to nuclear weapons. But in the face of the Ukrainian counteroffensive launched at the end of the summer, the Russian military announced on Wednesday that abandoned the northern part of the region, including its namesake capital, to consolidate positions on the opposite bank of the Dnieper River, a natural barrier. “More of 30,000 Russian military and nearly 5,000 pieces of weapons and military vehicles were removed” from the western bank of the Dnieper, The Russian Defense Ministry said on Friday.
In the capital, kyiv, scenes of joy were experienced after the announcement, with horns and music in the streets. “Kherson is Ukraine!”, celebrated its mayor, Vitali Klitschko. “Finally, my free city! The city where I was born, where I lived all my life,” said 17-year-old Nastia Stepenska, who took refuge in the capital at the start of the war, with tears in her eyes. “I will return when it is possible and safe. Soon, I hope”he added, referring to the fighting that continues to rock the region.
Ukraine claimed on Thursday the reconquest of more than 40 towns in the area and the General Staff affirmed on Friday that its offensive “continues”. Russiadespite the withdrawal of its troops, continues to consider that all this southern part of Ukraine belongs to him.
The Kherson region “is a matter of the Russian Federation,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. “There can be no change,” he added, in the Russian Presidency’s first comment on the withdrawal. Shortly after the start of the warRussia failed in its attempt to take kyiv and in September he had to leave almost the entire Kharkov region (northeast).
Putin then ordered the mobilization of 300,000 reservists to try to regain the initiative on the ground. Despite these withdrawals, Russia has continued to bombard other regions of Ukraine. The attacks of the last few weeks destroyed much of the country’s energy infrastructuredepriving various regions of light.
Source: Ambito
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