After Russia completed its withdrawal, Ukrainian troops entered the main city of Kherson in the south of the country. Against this background, Dmitry Medvedev, deputy chairman of the Russian Security Council, confirmed that his country has not yet used its entire arsenal.
In a post on the Telegram platform on Saturday, Nov. 12, Medvedev said Russia “did not bomb all potential enemy targets” and said “everything is just right”.
The senior Russian official believes that Russia is building an “equal world order” for the future, but it stands alone against NATO and the West.
Referring to the developments in Kherson, Medvedev noted that Russia is not only protecting its citizens, but also restoring Russian lands, not the other way around. He also reiterated Moscow’s position that Kherson and the Donetsk, Luhansk and Zaporozhye regions are Russian territory.
A spokesman for the Ukrainian Air Force warned that Russia could launch air and missile strikes on large areas of Ukraine.
Meanwhile, the Ukrainian Intelligence Service announced that Kherson was back under Ukrainian control. It also said in a statement that troops of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and reconnaissance battalion had entered the city.
In the statement, the intelligence service also called on the remaining Russians in the city to surrender.
According to photos from inside the city of Kherson, the Ukrainian flag was raised over the city’s government building. Ukrainian military sources told Al Jazeera that the entire village of Nikolayev was under control. The reconnaissance brigade was cautiously advancing towards the city of Kherson towards the nearby Churna Baevka airfield.
The Ukrainian national anthem was played in Kherson after Russian troops withdrew from the city on Friday, November 11. And Kherson was the first city to fall at the beginning of Russia’s war on Ukraine in February.
A source in the office of the head of the military administration in the Kherson region told Al Jazeera that the authorities had already started to take stabilization measures in the area. The demining work in the countryside after liberation has already started.
historic day
In his daily address on social media, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky called the recovery of the city a “historic day”. He also said that special forces had entered the city of Kherson in the south of the country after Russia announced its withdrawal from Ukraine. Zelensky wrote on Telegram, “Today is a historic day as we retake Kherson.”
He said, “At present our defenders are all on the outskirts of the city, but there are special forces in the city.”
On the other hand, Natalia Khumenyuk, a spokeswoman for the Ukrainian Southern Combat Command, said that Ukrainian troops found Russian tanks, artillery and other equipment on the southern lands they had recovered. This is the weaponry that the Russians failed to take with them across the Dnieper during their retreat.
Hummenyuk also said that the equipment there is very messy, and the Ukrainian army has collected equipment suitable for itself to use in counterattacks.
Hummenyuk also confirmed that the Russians had planted landmines on large tracts of land they had left behind. So, as she said, the recovered land is still full of danger.
According to satellite images, several bridges in the Kherson area were damaged.
The images showed the destruction of the Antonovsky Bridge over the Dnieper River, a railway bridge after Russian troops had withdrawn to the east bank of the river and the Kakhovka hydroelectric dam.
provisional capital
On the other hand, pro-Russian authorities in the Kherson region announced that Henichesk would become the region’s interim capital instead of the city of Kherson, from which Russian troops withdrew on Friday.
Henichesk is one of the largest cities in the Kherson region, located in the south of the Sea of Azov, about 200 kilometers from the capital Kherson.
Meanwhile, the Kremlin said the decision to withdraw troops from Kherson was made by the Russian Defense Ministry. It also stressed in a statement that Moscow’s position that the Kherson region is part of Russian territory has not changed.
Earlier, the Russian army announced the withdrawal of more than 30,000 Russian soldiers from the Kherson area, abandoning the west bank of the Dnieper River and moving to its east bank for deployment.
The Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement that “more than 30,000 Russian soldiers and about 5,000 weapons and military vehicles” had been evacuated from the West Bank.
fierce battle
Meanwhile, the eastern Ukrainian front is facing ongoing battlefield developments. Because Ukrainian and Russian troops have issued statements to each other that they have repelled attacks on several axes.
In the Donetsk region, the Ukrainian staff said it had repelled eight offensive attempts by Russian forces along this battle axis, including the Pervomaisk axis.
On the other hand, pro-Russian separatists say they are continuing their advance around the Donetsk International Airport and are about to take control of Pervomayski in the northwest of the region.
In Luhansk, the Ukrainian governor of the province=region said Ukrainian troops had regained control of 11 towns since September. And they are still advancing, but more slowly because of the mines laid by the Russian army.
The Russian Defense Ministry said its forces repelled four Ukrainian attacks in the direction of Krasno-Leman that killed more than 190 Ukrainian soldiers and damaged some vehicles.
The ministry also said Russian troops had thwarted attempts by the Ukrainians to advance towards the Kupyansk axis and killed more than 160 attackers.
The ministry also announced that it had shot down a Ukrainian military Mi-8 helicopter in Zaporozhye, southern Ukraine. Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said that Ukrainian army ammunition depots in Zaporozhye and Kharkiv (northeast Ukraine) were destroyed.
israeli weapons
On the other hand, the Israeli Broadcasting Corporation reported on Israeli-made armored military vehicles monitoring the Ukrainian army in the Kherson region in the south of the country. That is in line with a statement from a Ukrainian official who expects a shift in the Israeli government’s strategy with Benjamin Netanyahu as president.
Citing a Twitter account about weapons and equipment used in the current war, the Israel Broadcasting Corporation website posted pictures of the “Prince” vehicle produced by the private Israeli company Gaia.
The report said it was the first time the Ukrainian army had used Israeli-made weapons and equipment.
Ukraine has tried to persuade Israel to provide it with the Iron Dome air defense system since the war began, but Yair Rapid’s government has refrained from doing so for fear of angering Russia.
However, the Wall Street Journal quoted Ukrainian Ambassador to Israel Yevgen Kornichuk as saying he believed a strategic shift was imminent as Benjamin Netanyahu returned to power.
The Ukrainian ambassador said Netanyahu would consider providing Ukraine with more military support. He believes that the military cooperation between Iran and Russia will promote further cooperation between Israel and Kyiv to jointly deal with the same enemy.
On the other hand, the paper quoted Israeli officials as saying they were disturbed by the arms shipment to Ukraine and worried that it would hamper a hotline arranged by Israel and Russia in Syria. The hotline allows Tel Aviv to launch a strike against the Iranian presence there, while avoiding losses to Russia.