Moscow ordered troops to withdraw from near the strategic southern Ukrainian city of Kherson in one of its biggest setbacks of the war so far, although Ukraine said it was still doubtful that the Russian troops would leave without a fight, according to Reuters.
Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu on Wednesday announced Russian forces would retreat from the west bank of the Dnipro River, which includes Kherson, the only regional capital Moscow had captured since invading Ukraine in February.
Shoigu’s top commander told him the move was made to save the lives of Russian troops and better defend positions across the river.
Kyiv was still sceptical of Moscow’s intentions, and on Thursday morning Ukrainian forces appeared to be holding off from launching a major advance into the area that Russia said it was abandoning.
The Russians “are moving out but not as much as would be taking place if it was a full pullout or regrouping,” Oleksiy Arestovych, adviser to President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said in a video posted online on Wednesday night.
Arestovych stated that Russian forces were destroying bridges as they left and mining roads.
“For the moment, we don’t know their intentions – will they engage in fighting with us and will they try to hold the city of Kherson? They are moving very slowly,” he said.
Zelenskiy mentioned Kherson just once in his daily overnight television address. Ukrainian forces were strengthening their positions step by step in the south and “the enemy will make no gifts to us.”
Russian-installed officials have been evacuating tens of thousands of civilians from Kherson in recent weeks. Kyiv says this has included forced deportations, a war crime.
General Mark Milley, chairman of the U.S. joint chiefs of staff, said initial indicators suggested Russia was following through with its withdrawal, though it could take time to complete. U.S. President Joe Biden said the withdrawal showed there were “some real problems with the Russian military.”