image source,Reuters
Russia has announced the withdrawal of its troops from Kherson, months after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The BBC’s Moscow correspondent Will Vernon (Will Vernon) reported that the Russian Ministry of Defense announced in a daily battle update that “at 5:00 this morning Moscow time, the redeployment of Russian troops to the east bank of the Dnieper has been completed.”
“During the redeployment, not a single piece of military equipment was left. All Russian servicemen were transferred across the river without any loss of Russian troops, equipment and supplies.”
The Russian Defense Ministry also cited the troops’ achievements in Ukraine in the past 24 hours.
However, in the eyes of the outside world, Kherson, as the only regional capital of Ukraine captured by the Russian army after the invasion, is undoubtedly a major blow to Russia.
BBC Chinese sorts out the four major points of Russia’s withdrawal from Kherson.
“Redeployment” and “mobilization” in Russian terms
Earlier, the Russian Ministry of Defense has announced that Russian troops are being transferred from the Kherson region to the other side of the Dnipro River.
In his daily briefing to reporters on Thursday, Lieutenant General Igor Konashenkov, a spokesman for the Russian Defense Ministry, briefly referred to the withdrawal, but instead of using the word “withdrawal,” he used is “mobilization”.
“Russian troops are being moved to positions prepared in advance on the left bank of the Dnieper in strict accordance with the approved plan,” he said. But he did not provide more details, nor did he provide photos of the “mobilization” of Russian troops.
The BBC’s Moscow correspondent Rosenberg noted that Russian media reports have emphasized that the decision to withdraw troops came from the Russian Ministry of Defense, not President Vladimir Putin.
How did the parties react?
Ukrainian Prime Minister Volodymyr Zelensky said he was “very cautious” about reports in recent days of Russia’s withdrawal from Kherson.
Earlier, Oleksiy Hromov, deputy head of the main operations department of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, was quoted by the Interfax-Ukraine News Agency as saying that the Ukrainian army “can neither deny nor confirm the so-called Russian army from Ukraine. Reports of Elson’s Retreat”.
Russia abandons important Ukrainian city Kherson, suffers huge blow
“We continue to carry out offensive operations as planned,” he said, adding that Russia had not asked for a green channel for withdrawal.
Ukraine remains concerned that Russia’s withdrawal announcement could be a “trap”.
However, photos on social media on Friday showed several sections of the only road bridge leaving Kherson destroyed. Bloggers who followed the war closely concluded that Russia’s retreat from the west bank of the Dnieper was over.
U.S. President Joe Biden commented that Russia’s decision to withdraw troops from Kherson showed “some real problems” with Russia’s war on Ukraine.
NATO Secretary General Stoltenberg said Russia’s departure from Kherson would be “another victory” for Ukraine as the war continues into its ninth month.
Stoltenberg told reporters after a meeting with Italian Prime Minister Meloni that the withdrawal could mean Russia “under heavy pressure” and that NATO would continue to support Ukraine as long as it needed it.
During a phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Thursday (November 10), Sunak agreed that Russia’s withdrawal from the occupied city of Kherson would show Ukrainian forces “made significant progress”.
But the pair also agreed that until the Ukrainian flag was flown again in Kherson, it was right to be cautious about withdrawing troops,
Why is it important to control Kherson?
Kherson is located in southern Ukraine, on the Black Sea coast at the mouth of the Dnipro River.
A major port city, Kherson is only about 100 kilometers from Crimea, which was annexed by Russia, and serves as a gateway for shipping, navy and other important sea routes.
Not far east of the city is the source of the Northern Crimean Canal, which provides a large portion of the Crimean peninsula’s freshwater supply.
In effect, the city of Kherson acts as a bridge between the Crimea peninsula, annexed by Russia since 2014, and the rest of Ukraine.
Russia occupied Kherson in early March and recently announced its annexation of the Kherson region and three other regions of Ukraine.
Marina Miron, a defence researcher at King’s College London, said: “Kherson is the gateway to Crimea, and taking it back will pave the way for regaining control of Crimea, which is what Ukraine is all about. goals in this war.”
Ms Miron said the signal from the retake of Kherson was that the war was moving in Ukraine’s favor.
“This will prove to the West that it is still worthwhile to spend money to support Ukraine and provide them with weapons.”
The possibility of a peace deal?
BBC Ukraine correspondentJames Waterhouse (James Waterhouse）from Kyiv：
If you think Russia and Ukraine are far from signing a peace deal, you may be quite right.
President Zelensky’s previous peace deal conditions included a complete Russian withdrawal, compensation for damages, and a leadership change in Moscow.
However, the last requirement appears to have been dropped. Ukrainian officials have said a deal with Putin is not impossible.
But it is difficult to see how Russia could possibly agree to these conditions.
Moscow said it was open to talks, but Kyiv said it was just a “smoke screen”.
The U.S. has denied claims it had pressured Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to compromise, but a senior U.S. official said the situation developing as winter approaches could present an opportunity to negotiate peace.
General Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said: “Achieving a mutually agreed military victory by military means is not achievable.
Therefore, the war will have to be ended by agreement.
President Zelensky has long regarded the idea of compromise as politically inadvisable, but the United States is keen for him to show a willingness to negotiate.