After the withdrawal of Russian troops from the city of Cherson, the great river Dnipro separates the warring parties. On the Russian-held shore, the Ukrainian military is now observing a reduction in forces -- and drawing its own conclusions from that.
According to Ukrainian sources, Russian troops are retreating from the east bank of the Dnipro River in the south of the country. "A decreasing number of Russian soldiers and military equipment can be observed in the city of Oleshky," the Ukrainian military said in a statement.
Oleshky is opposite the city of Kherson, which was recently evacuated by Russian forces. Only Russian reservists are now stationed in the area, it said, which would mean that the elite units had been withdrawn.
The information could not be verified independently. It is also unclear so far whether Ukrainian troops have already crossed the Dnipro and taken up positions on the eastern side of the river.
In the past few days, Russian forces have repeatedly fired rockets at the city of Kherson. Most recently, the electricity in the city failed again, as the regional governor announced. Electricity was restored to the city just last week.
The Kherson region is one of the four Ukrainian regions annexed by Russia at the end of September, along with Zaporizhia, Donetsk and Luhansk. Ukraine and the West do not recognize this. However, Russian forces have since lost control of much of the region. Russian troops withdrew from the city of Cherson last month.
