Russia announces the evacuation of the city of Cherson and surrounding areas - but Kyiv remains suspicious. Now the Ukrainian troops are liberating twelve villages in the region.
After the announced Russian troop withdrawal, Ukrainian troops advanced about seven kilometers in two sectors in the southern Kherson and Mykolaiv regions. About 264 square kilometers and twelve towns were recaptured, said the supreme commander of the armed forces, Valeriy Saluschnyj, on Telegram. These were apparently places that the Russian army had previously cleared. Images from the liberated small town of Snihurivka in the Mykolaiv region had previously been circulated. Since the beginning of October, the Ukrainian units in the Cherson region have advanced up to 36 kilometers and have liberated 1,381 square kilometers and 41 settlements, it said.
This was also preceded by a Russian troop withdrawal. Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu announced in Moscow on Wednesday that Russian troops would withdraw completely from the right bank of the Dnipro. Safe supply of the units had become unrealistic after several bridges were damaged by Ukrainian missiles.
The Russian army is thus giving up an area of around 4800 square kilometers. Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said the movement of troops to the left bank of the Dnipro was proceeding "strictly according to plan".
Ukraine reacted suspiciously to the Russian announcement that it would withdraw from Kherson. "The enemy doesn't give us gifts, doesn't make 'gestures of goodwill'," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned in his daily video message on Wednesday evening. Therefore, the Ukrainian army proceeds "very carefully, without emotions, without unnecessary risks".
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg also expressed reservations. "We now have to see how the situation on the ground develops in the next few days," said the Norwegian on the sidelines of talks with the new Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni in Rome. But it is clear that Russia is under heavy pressure. "If they leave Kherson, it would be another great achievement for Ukraine."
Meanwhile, US President Joe Biden said the Russian withdrawal announcement shows that the Russian military has "real problems" in the war in Ukraine.
