Russia announces retreat from Kherson as Ukraine alleges sabotage

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu announced on Wednesday that Russian troops would retreat from the strategic city of Kherson in Ukraine’s south, signaling another embarrassing blow for the Kremlin’s war effort. 

In a televised address, Gen. Sergei Surovikin, the commander of Russian troops in Ukraine, said Moscow was unable to supply the tens of thousands of soldiers in the city, forcing them to retreat and cross to the east bank of the Dnipier River, ceding a strategic western gateway. 

“We will save the lives of our soldiers and fighting capacity of our units. Keeping them on the right [western] bank is futile. Some of them can be used on other fronts,” Surovikin said, according to Reuters. 

Ukrainian forces had been closing in on the city for weeks, reportedly liberating more than 100 towns and villages in the surrounding region amid an autumn counteroffensive. 

Ukrainian official on Wednesday said Russian forces were blowing up bridges on their way out of the city.

“The occupiers are currently undermining absolutely all the bridges on the right bank of the Kherson region,” Serhii Khlan, a senior official in the Kherson region, said in a Telegram post.

Ukraine has also warned that Russia might blow up the Kakhovka dam on the Dnieper as it leaves Kherson, which could flood large swathes of Kherson.

Kherson was the first major city seized by Russia after its invasion in February, and remained the only regional capital occupied by Moscow’s forces. 

The city is strategically positioned north of Crimea, which was annexed by Russia in 2014, and east of the crucial port city of Odessa.

Russian President Vladimir Putin announced martial law in Kherson last month, along with three other regions that Russia illegally annexed in September.

However, Ukraine continued to make steady advances in the region and was preparing for a major battle to take the regional capital.

Russia had shown signs of surrender in recent days, with a Russian flag coming down from the main administrative building in the region. However, Ukrainian officials and war experts suspected Russia was setting a trap.

Occupying officials in the city have overseen forced evacuations of nearly 100,000 residents in the city in recent weeks.