Russians on the run
Major blow to Putin as his troops are ordered to pull out of key city of Kherson
THE occupied city of Kherson in Ukraine appeared to be on the brink of falling to Kyiv’s forces last night after Moscow ordered a humiliating withdrawal.
The retreat marks yet another embarrassment for Vladimir Putin, who held an annexation ceremony in September claiming Kherson and three other regions were now part of Russia ‘for ever’.
Fierce fighting has been taking place around the city, which was seized by the Russians in early March, as residents were ordered to leave. Ukraine claimed the evacuations amounted to forced deportations and a possible war crime.
In remarks broadcast on state TV yesterday, Russia’s top military commander in Ukraine, Sergei Surovkin, urged defence minister Sergei Shoigu to allow troops to withdraw from Kherson city.
He said: ‘Kherson cannot be fully supplied and function. Russia did everything possible to ensure the evacuation of the inhabitants of Kherson.
‘We will save the lives of our soldiers and
‘Humiliating withdrawal’
fighting capacity of our units. Keeping them on the right [western] bank [of the River Dnipro] is futile. Some of them can be used on other fronts.’
Shoigu signed off on the move after a series of ferocious Ukrainian attacks destroyed key bridges which Russia used to send arms and troops.
He said: ‘I agree with your conclusions and proposals. For us, the life and health of Russian servicemen is always a priority. We must also take into account the threats to the civilian population.’
However, Ukraine officials were last night worried the pull-back could be an elaborate trap to draw soldiers into Russian ‘kill zones’.
Presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said: ‘Until the Ukrainian flag is flying over Kherson, it makes no sense to talk about a Russian withdrawal.’
Kherson was the only regional capital which fell under Russian control since the start of the invasion in February.
It is a major strategic prize because it is the gateway to Crimea and a key Black Sea port which is essential for re-launching Ukrainian exports.
It also supplies water to much of southern Ukraine.
A Ukrainian victory in the Black Sea region would threaten the ‘land bridge’ which the Kremlin established from Russia to the peninsula of Crimea, which Moscow annexed in 2014.
It would leave Putin with little to show from a campaign which has turned him into a pariah in the eyes of the West.
Pro-Kremlin blogger Semyon Pegov, who runs the War Gonzo channel on messaging service Telegram, said: ‘This is a black page in the history of the Russian army.’ The announcement of the Russian withdrawal came hours after one of Putin’s officials in Kherson died in a mysterious ‘car crash’. Kirill Stremousov had become known for his regular social media tirades against the Ukrainian government. The former politician in Ukraine switched sides in the first weeks of the war and has been warning for weeks on his Telegram channel that Russia would have to leave Kherson. Ukraine wanted to put him on trial for treason. Russia media said the crash happened near Henichesk, on the Sea of Azov, which was used as the headquarters of the occupation administration since it fled Kherson. Ukrainian MP Oleksiy Goncharenko branded Stremousov a ‘collaborator’ and ‘traitor who went over to the side of Russia.’
He said: ‘He actively opposed the surrender of Kherson and said that Russia is here for ever. And then he mysteriously dies.’ Last night Putin posthumously awarded Stremousov the Order of Courage for ‘valour in the line of duty’.
Nato secretary general Jens Stoltenberg said the apparent retreat from Kherson was part of an overall pattern which showed that Moscow ‘has absolutely lost the momentum’.