Vladimir Putin wants Kherson, Russia’s retreat is a blow

• Russia has finished its withdrawal from Kherson and the surrounding environs.
• The withdrawal is unquestionably a humiliating loss for President Vladimir Putin.
• Ukraine’s military has advanced warily in the face of warnings from Kiev that Russian troops might have left a trail of destruction.

One of the war’s most important developments in recent months is Russia’s admission that it has finished its withdrawal from the crucial city of Kherson and the surrounding environs.

Since the invasion in February, Russian forces had only managed to seize Kherson, the regional seat of Ukraine.

Large tracts of terrain that Russia has held from the beginning of the conflict and that President Vladimir Putin had just five weeks ago formally annexed were ceded as a result of their pullback east across the Dnipro River.

In the face of warnings from Kiev that retreating Russian forces might have left a trail of bombs and destruction, Ukrainian troops have advanced warily.

The Ukrainian military claimed on Friday that Russia was firing recently evacuated land from new defensive positions on the eastern bank of the Dnipro River while they were retreating and destroying vital infrastructure.

It would be more difficult for the Ukrainians to follow fleeing Russians over the river as the main bridge over the Dnipro River connecting Kherson city to the eastern half of the province was demolished on Friday.

In a warning earlier this week, President Volodymyr Zelensky stated that Ukrainian soldiers would “proceed very methodically, without emotions, without excessive risk.”

The ground in front of his troops on the southern front lines is probably extensively mined, and they are worn out. More blood would be shed if the Russian troops were pursued.

Russia will continue to control 60% of the Kherson region, including the Sea of Azov coast, notwithstanding the retreat.

Ukrainian forces will find it difficult to destroy or interfere with the canal that transports fresh water to the nearby Crimea as long as Moscow’s soldiers maintain control of and protect the east bank of the Dnipro.

Even if the Kremlin has made an effort to present the withdrawal in the nicest light possible, it is unquestionably a humiliating loss for President Vladimir Putin, who just a few weeks ago declared that Kherson people had become Russian citizens “forever.”

Furthermore, although Putin’s spokesperson reiterated on Friday that the Kherson region is still a part of Russia, the reality on the ground is quite different.

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