Ukrainian troops reconquered the city of Kherson, in the south of the country, on Friday and claimed an “important victory” against Russia, which withdrew its forces from the only regional capital occupied in almost nine months of fighting.
“Kherson Returns to Ukrainian Control, Units of the Ukrainian Armed Forces Enter the City”announced the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense on Facebook, calling on the Russian military to “surrender immediately”.
(Also: Russia confirms North Kherson withdrawal, what does this imply in the war?)
For kyiv, this withdrawal is an “important victory” and shows that “no matter what Russia does, Ukraine will win” the war, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said on Twitter.
Kuleba released a video in which, according to him, residents of the town of Bilozerka, a few kilometers from Kherson, can be seen tearing down a huge banner that proclaimed “Russia is here forever.”
“Jerson is Ukraine!” Celebrated the mayor of kyiv, the country’s capital, Vitali Klitschko. Sergei, a 26-year-old IT employee in kyiv, told AFP that he wept with joy after the announcement.
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Isak Danilovich, a mathematician, claimed that the Russian withdrawal represented “a heavy blow to [el presidente ruso Vladimir] Putin”.
The withdrawal of Russian troops, the third major since the beginning of the invasion of Ukraine on February 24, is seen as a severe setback for Putin, who proclaimed at the end of September the annexation of four Ukrainian regions, including Kherson. Putin had promised to defend “by all means” those regions and threatened between the lines to resort to nuclear weapons.
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The flag returns to Kherson
Simultaneously, Ukrainian officials, journalists and bloggers began publishing images of the city of Kherson and other towns in the region where the Ukrainian flag is already flying.
In particular, these images were spread on the social networks of the Ukrainian Parliament. Also the kyiv Department of Defense published images with citizens of Kherson receiving the first soldiers who carried the national flag in their hands.
Any attempt to resist the Armed Forces of Ukraine will be repelled. Any Russian soldier who resists will be annihilated.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian Military Intelligence issued a statement in Russian announcing that “Kherson is back in Ukraine’s control” and the city’s withdrawal routes are within range of its artillery fire.
“Any attempt to resist the Armed Forces of Ukraine will be repelled. Any Russian soldier who resists will be annihilated,” warned the military, who questioned the complete withdrawal of Russian troops and called on the enemy forces that presumably remain in the area to “surrender immediately”.
‘There can be no change’
But before the Ukrainian counteroffensive launched at the end of the summer, the Russian army announced on Wednesday that it was abandoning the northern part of the Kherson region, including its homonymous capital, to consolidate positions on the opposite bank of the Dnieper, a natural barrier.
The Russian Defense Ministry said on Friday that “more than 30,000 Russian soldiers and about 5,000 pieces of weapons and military vehicles were removed” from the western bank of the Dnieper, where Kherson is situated.
Russia assures that despite the withdrawal, it still considers that all this southern part of Ukraine belongs to it. The Kherson region “is an issue of the Russian Federation,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov said.
“There can be no change,” he added, in the first comment of the Russian Presidency on the withdrawal.
Shortly after the start of the war, Russia failed in its attempt to take the capital, kyiv, and in September had to abandon almost the entire Kharkov region (northeast).
Putin ordered in September the mobilization of 300,000 reservists to recover the initiative on the ground.
The Russian press agency Ria Novosti released images of Russian military vehicles on the Antonovski Bridge, over the Dnieper River, leaving Kherson.
Several Russian correspondents reported that the bridge was later destroyed, without saying who did it. Ukraine claimed responsibility on Thursday for the reconquest of more than 40 towns in the north of the Kherson region. The Ukrainian General Staff affirmed on Friday that its offensive “continues” and that it will communicate its results “later”.
What will happen with the annexation?
Despite the entry of the Ukrainians into Kherson, Moscow rules out giving up the city and the northern part of the homonymous province, which was annexed by Russia in September.
“It is a subject of the Russian Federation. This is coined and defined by law, there can be no change here,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov said.
Asked if the Kremlin does not regret the pomp with which the annexation of Kherson was celebrated, Peskov answered tersely: “No.” He also reiterated that The “special military operation” in Ukraine is still underway and will continue until it achieves its objectives.
Former Russian President Dmitri Medvedev, author of several controversial statements about the Russian military campaign, also assured this Friday that “the concept of territorial sovereignty has not disappeared” and that “everything will return home, to the Russian Federation.”
It is a subject of the Russian Federation. This is coined and defined by law, there can be no change here.
The military spokesman, Igor Konashénkov assured that Russia has evacuated all civilians – more than 115,000 – who have decided to leave the right bank of the Dnieper, the largest river in Ukraine.
Although the pro-Russian authorities of the regional capital estimated today at 80,000 100,000 the number of people who still remain in the city, the only regional capital that Russia had taken since the beginning of its military campaign in Ukraine.
“The evacuation continues. According to our calculations there are between 80,000 and 100,000 people in Kherson still,” said pro-Russian mayor Alexandr Kobets. After hearing the news, Kobets assured that local authorities still have “all options” to organize the exit of the city for citizens who wish to leave.
“We have options for displacement,” he said when asked about the blowing up of the Antonovski Bridge. At the same time, according to Ukrainian social networks, several locals chose to go out into the streets to receive the Ukrainian troops at different points in Kherson who are retaking the territories abandoned by the Russians.
cynical response
Despite these withdrawals, Russia has continued to bomb other regions of Ukraine. The attacks in recent weeks have destroyed much of the country’s energy infrastructure, depriving several regions of electricity.
On Thursday, at least seven people were killed in a missile attack on a residential building in the southern city of Mykolaiv, regional authorities reported Friday.
The head of the Mykolaiv regional administration, Vitali Kim, denounced “a cynical response from the terrorist state to our successes on the front lines.”
An AFP journalist saw the destroyed building and rescuers looking for victims under the rubble.
Fighting is also continuing on the eastern front, especially in Bakhmut, a city that Moscow has been trying to conquer for months, with the support of the Wagner paramilitary group.
Increasingly isolated internationally, Putin will not participate in the G20 summit in Indonesia next week.
INTERNATIONAL WRITING
*With information from EFE and AFP
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