KYIV, Ukraine — It had looked inevitable for weeks, maybe even months. Russia's position on the west bank of the Dnipro River, which had been slowly but systematically reduced by the Ukrainian southern offensive launched on Aug. 29, was finally being officially abandoned on Wednesday, according to Sergey Surovikin, commander of Russian forces in Ukraine, and the Russian Defense Minister Sergi Shoigu.
Antonovsky Bridge across Dnieper River in Kherson
In a televised and clearly rehearsed conversation between the two men — where they talked repeatedly about the “priority given to the lives of Russian servicemen,” despite all the evidence to the contrary — Surovikin advised Shoigu that, after a “comprehensive assessment of the current situation,” he was recommending the Russian military retreat to defensive positions on the east bank of the Dnipro River. Shoigu, of course, agreed.
Maybe suspecting this, it was revealed on Wednesday that Russia had begun constructing significant defensive lines and laying large minefields outside of the devastated and now occupied city of Mariupol, a clear sign of Moscow’s nervousness about Ukrainian intentions in the South. The Ukrainian strategy had largely revolved around making the Russian positions on the “wrong” side of the river untenable, by systematically targeting and destroying the road and rail bridges Russia relied on to supply their forces with Western-supplied long-range artillery, primarily the 80km-ranged HIMARS. When the Russians built a pontoon bridge in parallel with the now impassable Antonovsky Road Bridge, the Ukrainians then targeted that with HIMARS strikes too.
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Russia-Ukraine war: Russians withdrawing from key position in southern Kherson regionThe withdrawal from the city of Kherson is a major setback for Russia -- it is the only regional capital Russian forces had seized during the eight-month war.
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Russia-Ukraine war: Russians withdrawing from key position in southern Kherson regionThe withdrawal from the city of Kherson is a major setback for Russia -- it is the only regional capital Russian forces had seized during the eight-month war.
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