Until the Ukrainian flag flies over Kherson, Podoliak said, there is no point in talking about a Russian withdrawal.
First Published Nov 10, 2022, 3:13 PM IST
Moscow: Yesterday, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu ordered the withdrawal from the eastern city of Kherson in Ukraine. However, reports say that Ukraine is suspicious of Russia’s decision. Mykhailo Podoliak, an adviser to Ukraine’s president, told Reuters that some Russian forces were still in Kherson and that it was too early to talk about a withdrawal.
Until the Ukrainian flag flies over Kherson, Podoliak said, there is no point in talking about a Russian withdrawal. Kherson was the only regional capital city captured by Russia after Russia invaded Ukraine last February 24. Foreign media reported that Russia’s withdrawal from Kherson would backfire on Russia’s ‘special military operation’ in Ukraine.
Earlier, after the capture of Kherson, Russia unilaterally held a plebiscite in the region and declared the region as part of Russia. But. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said that Russia will take back all its territories, especially Crimea, which it annexed in 2014. Following this, Ukraine’s military operations in the south-eastern region of the country have intensified.
With this, Russian forces were completely out of the area west of the Dnipro River. With this, it is expected that the fighting will intensify in the southern cities. The Darivka bridge on the main highway east from Kherson was completely destroyed after Russian troops decided to withdraw. After the withdrawal of the Russian army, Ukraine released pictures of the destruction of the bridge. The Russian retreat from Kherson was described as painful by the pro-Russian Telegram pages. “Simply put, Kherson cannot be captured with bare hands. It is a black page in the history of the Russian army. A tragic page for the Russian state.”
Last Updated Nov 10, 2022, 3:13 PM IST
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