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Zelensky says dozens of towns and villages in the Kherson region have been retaken.


Russia’s announcement this week that it was withdrawing from parts of the Kherson region was cast in doubt, as events were clouded by the fog of war and concerns arose in Kyiv that the The Kremlin may be lying in an attempt to get the Ukrainian military involved. Trap.

But on Thursday, Ukrainian officials said that Russian troops are indeed withdrawing from some areas they already control along the front lines in southern Ukraine. President Volodymyr Zelensky said dozens of towns and villages had been recaptured.

The Ukrainian military also said it had recaptured 100 square miles in the past 24 hours.

“The number of Ukrainian flags returning to their rightful place within the framework of the ongoing defensive operation has reached dozens,” Zelensky said in his nightly address, citing 41 markets. towns and villages. “Everything that is happening now has been achieved after months of brutal struggle. It was achieved through courage, pain, and loss.”

Russia’s retreat from farmland on the west bank of the Dnipro River could be a turning point in the war, a major psychological and military blow to Russian President Putin’s military efforts.

The Ukrainian army, fighting a shabby and weak defense for eight months, forced the Russians to retreat three times: from north of Kyiv last spring; from the northeastern Kharkiv region in late summer; and now from at least part of the west bank of the river Dnipro to the south.

Mr. Zelensky’s government is hoping that victory will ease criticism of generous military aid to Ukraine among some members of the US Congress. Ukrainian officials have also announced conditions for discussing a ceasefire with Russia, including a demand for Russia to withdraw its troops from Ukrainian soil.

Even if the Russian army retreats in the Kherson area, there is a possibility that they will leave the countryside and retreat to defend the provincial capital, Kherson.

Military analysts have warned that Russia could also retaliate by escalating missile and drone attacks on cities in a campaign to demoralize the Ukrainian people by power cut. Currently, drone and missile attacks have cut the power of 4.5 million people.

But across vast farmland in southern Ukraine, the Ukrainian military reaped the rewards of a methodical, months-long strategy of shelling behind Russia’s front lines, targeting the bridges over which the army was fighting. used by the Russian team to resupply troops on the west bank of the Dnipro.

General Valeriy Zaluzhny, the commander of the Ukrainian army, mocked Russia’s announced withdrawal, suggesting in a Facebook post on Thursday that it was a voluntary strategic maneuver aimed at saving soldiers’ lives. their. “The enemy has no choice but to flee,” he wrote.

The systematic shelling of the bridges and ferry terminals around Kherson by Ukraine has blocked exit routes, especially for such a large army, military analysts say.

In other towns and villages, there were signs of Russian withdrawal. A typical case is southern town of Snihurivka, an important road junction north of Kherson City, where several thousand Russian troops have withdrawn from the town in the past few days. However, signs of a harsh occupation followed by Russian control in the last weeks still linger in the town.

A notice posted on a bulletin board next to a department store reads, “Currency from 6 p.m. to 6:30 a.m. Violators will be shot.”

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