By Mick Krever, Anna Chernova, Tim Lister and Julia Kesaieva, CNN
Ukraine’s military said it recaptured swaths of territory in Kherson on Thursday after Moscow ordered a partial withdrawal from the area, though officials in Kyiv warned that the withdrawal of Russian infantrymen could turn the regional capital into a “city of death” when they leave.
An army spokesman said that in just 24 hours, Ukrainian forces had traversed the front line in the key southern Kherson region along 7 kilometers (4. 3 miles) and taken more than 260 square kilometers (100 square miles) of territory. taken from the towns of Snihurivka and Kyselivka, situated along the main roads leading to the town of Kherson, the regional capital. Kyselivka is located about 15 kilometers (9 miles) from the town of Kherson.
Moscow said on Wednesday its troops would withdraw from the western bank of the Dnipro River, a domain that includes the city of Kherson, in one of the biggest military setbacks for Russia since the beginning of its invasion. A spokesman for the Russian Defense Ministry said the efforts began the next day.
However, Kyiv officials treated the announcement with skepticism. Kherson is one of 4 Ukrainian regions that Russia has tried to annex in violation of foreign law, and some doubt Moscow will stop fighting for a territory populated by other people that Russian President Vladimir Putin has promised will be Russian citizens “forever. “
Ukrainian officials are also concerned that the Russian military will adopt scorched-earth tactics and leave a trail of devastation upon its withdrawal. Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, said Thursday that Russia “wants to turn Kherson into a ‘city of death. ‘”. ‘”
The Russian army “mines everything it can: apartments, sewers. Artillery on the left [east] bank plans to destroy the city. This is what the ‘Russian world’ looks like: he came, stole, celebrated, killed ‘witnesses,’ left ruins and left,” Podoliak tweeted.
Ukrainian army spokesman Vladyslav Nazarov said Russian forces were proceeding to shell spaces retaken by the Ukrainian army and would attack humanitarian aid distribution points.
However, regression has begun to appear.
Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the U. S. Joint Chiefs of StaffThe U. S. military said Washington had noticed the “beginning” of a Russian withdrawal to Kherson. An imaginable sign that the leaders of the Russian army are nervous about the advance of the Ukrainian counteroffensive.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said more than 41 settlements in southern Ukraine had been liberated as a result of Russia’s resolve to move to the bank of the Dnipro River.
He added that police teams had moved to several settlements in Kherson to begin stabilization measures, but the liberation of Ukrainian territory is only the first step in a long process.
Ukraine’s commander-in-chief, Valerii Zaluzhnyi, said the good fortune of Kyiv’s army in Kherson had left Russia “still without a choice of hotel on the fly. “Asked if the withdrawal was happening, Zaluzhnyi said the Ukrainian government would not be able to verify or deny it. But protecting the occupied territory on Kherson’s western bank had become increasingly complicated for the Russians, as Ukrainian forces disabled bridges over the Dnipro and attacked Russian home lines.
While Russia’s most sensible military leaders have tried to put a more productive face on withdrawal, this is a major and humiliating setback for the Kremlin.
“I perceive that this is a very complicated decision, but at the same time we will maintain the most important thing: the life of our soldiers and the overall combat capability of the troop group, which is to stay on the right (west) bench in a limited area,” said Gen. Sergey Surovikin, recently appointed commander of the war effort.
If and when Russian troops retreat to the east bank, their home lines will be less difficult to manage and they will regain a defense-in-depth. Any attempt through Ukrainian forces to cross the Dnipro can be costly to the point of being prohibitive.
Russia would still retain control of 60% of the Kherson region, adding the sea coast along the Sea of Azov. As long as Moscow’s troops control and the eastern bank of the Dnipro, Ukrainian forces will find it difficult to damage or disrupt the canal that carries new water to Crimea.
On Thursday night, several social media accounts in Kherson reported explosions along the river Thursday night. Local teams reported on Telegram channels that two bridges near the town of Kherson were shelled from the east bank, where the Russians have fortified positions.
CNN cannot access the reports and no geolocatable image has emerged.
Telegram channels also reported gunfire on the outskirts of the city, and upstream, social media reported explosions in Kakhovka and the sound of motorboats crossing the river.
Unofficial explosions were also reported on or near the Zahorianivka and Muzykivka bridges and near the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant, where a giant dam is located.
Neither Ukrainian nor Russian appointees in Kherson have commented on the blasts.
As Russian forces retreated to Kherson, the Ukrainian government in the nearby town of Mykolaiv was hoping for respite from the persistent missile attacks that have hit the city in recent months.
Vitalii Kim, head of Mykolaiv’s regional administration, said on his Telegram channel: “A lot of smart news for today. We will reconnect electricity, heating, humanitarian aid kits, medicines, etc.
The last Russian-occupied settlements in the Mykolaiv region have now been liberated, but Kim said, “We remain silent, because this is a military matter. “
El-CNN-Wire™
CNN’s Joshua Berlinger, Julia Kesaieva and Gianluca Mezzofiore contributed to this report.
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