Russia-Ukraine War: UK says Russian retreat from Kherson exposes difficulties forces face

Britain’s Defense Ministry said Saturday in its daily update on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine that Russia’s withdrawal from Kherson, announced this week, “is a public recognition of the difficulties faced by Russian forces on the west bank of the Dnipro river.”

In the intelligence update posted on Twitter, the ministry said that while the withdrawal came only two days after its announcement, “it is likely that the withdrawal process had already started as early as 22 October 2022 when Russian-installed figures in Kherson urged civilians to leave the city.”

The British report said it is a “realistic possibility” that “Russian military equipment and forces in civilian attire had been evacuating in conjunction with the 80,000 stated evacuated civilians in recent weeks.”

“It is likely that Ukraine has retaken large areas of Kherson oblast on the west bank of the Dnipro River, and that its forces are now largely in control of Kherson city itself,” the report said. “It is likely that Russia is still attempting to evacuate forces from other areas of the oblast across the river to defensible positions on the east bank.”

Ukrainian forces entered the city of Kherson on Friday as Russian forces retreated in haste. Villagers came out of hiding to welcome the Ukrainian troops and recounted horror stories of Russian soldiers killing civilians and looting homes.

According to Serhiy Khlan, deputy for the Kherson Regional Council, the city was almost fully under the control of Ukrainian forces. Multiple videos circulating on social media show Ukrainian soldiers planting yellow and blue flags in the city while local residents celebrated.

"Today is a historic day. We are getting the south of the country back, we are getting Kherson back," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a Friday evening video address.

Zelenskyy said Russian forces had placed what he called a large number of landmines in the city and said Ukrainian forces would start working as soon as possible to remove them.

Russia said Friday that it had finished pulling out its troops from the west bank of the Dnipro River and that no soldiers or equipment had been left behind.

Retreating Russian soldiers painted a different picture, however. A Russian soldier described how he and his fellow soldiers were asked to hastily change into civilian clothing so they would not be detected. Also, some of the retreating soldiers reportedly drowned in the river while trying to escape.

For those Russian troops who did not make it out of the city, "the only chance to avoid death is to immediately surrender," the Ukrainian Defense Ministry's Intelligence Directorate said.

Kherson, a strategic port city on the Dnipro River, was captured within days after Russian forces invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24. On Wednesday, Moscow announced it had made the "difficult decision" to withdraw from the west bank of the river that includes Kherson.

The reports of a swift Russian withdrawal from Kherson came sooner than Western officials had predicted. U.S. Army General Mark A. Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, estimated earlier this week that the retreat would take "days and maybe even weeks."

Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov had also expressed skepticism that Russia could withdraw so quickly, fearing a potential trap by Russia to lure Ukrainian forces into brutal urban combat.

For Russia, Kherson has been a significant strategic region forming a land bridge from Russia to Crimea, the peninsula that Moscow annexed in 2014. Kherson is one of the four provinces that Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed to have annexed in September, a move the United States and other countries have condemned as illegal.

Meanwhile, Reznikov told Reuters that Ukraine was planning on building up a powerful military and defense industry, and this week's state takeovers of privately held stakes in strategic companies are part of that drive, he noted.

Ukraine is building an "army of drones" to resist Russia's invasion, Reznikov said. In recent weeks, Moscow has aimed waves of Iranian-made "kamikaze" drones at vital Ukrainian infrastructure.

"We are trying to be like Israel — more independent during the next years," he said in an interview in Kyiv on Thursday. "I think the best answer [can be seen] in Israel ... developing their national industry for their armed forces. It made them independent," he said.

Black Sea grain initiative

Rebeca Grynspan, the secretary-general of the U.N. Conference on Trade and Development, and Martin Griffiths, the U.N. undersecretary-general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief coordinator, met with a Russian delegation Friday in Geneva to discuss Moscow's grievances about the Black Sea grains export initiative and to address the need for unimpeded food and fertilizer exports, a U.N. spokesperson said.

The negotiations come eight days before the deal brokered by the United Nations and Turkey in July is due to be renewed. The accord has helped stave off a global food crisis, allowing the export of food and fertilizers from several of Ukraine's Black Sea ports.

The first shipment of donated fertilizers is expected to head to Malawi in the coming week, U.N. officials said Friday, following a meeting with a Russian delegation in Geneva.

"The world cannot afford to let global fertilizer accessibility problems become a global food shortage; therefore the U.N. calls on all actors to expedite the removal of any remaining impediments to the export and transportation of fertilizers to countries most in need," the U.N. said.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters before the meeting that "work is underway" to resolve a number of issues related to the grain deal that concern Russia.

Moscow has indicated that it could pull out of the deal, set to expire on Nov. 19, if there is no progress addressing its concerns.

Russia suspended its participation for four days last month in response to a drone attack on Moscow's fleet in Crimea that it blamed on Ukraine. Kyiv has not claimed responsibility and denies using the grain program's security corridor for military purposes.

Meanwhile, the Joint Coordination Center reports that four vessels left Ukrainian ports Friday carrying a total of 120,150 metric tons of grain and other food products under the Black Sea Grain Initiative while five inbound vessels transited the maritime humanitarian corridor toward Ukrainian ports.

War's toll

Since Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, the conflict has killed thousands of people, displaced millions and destroyed Ukrainian cities and infrastructure.

In mid-October, the U.N. refugee agency said there were more than 7.6 million Ukrainian refugees across Europe, including 2.85 million in Russia. It said another 7 million people have been uprooted within Ukraine.

Since February, "aid workers have provided critical aid and protection services to some 13.5 million people across all regions of Ukraine," Stephanie Tremblay, an associate U.N. spokesperson, told reporters Thursday in New York.

Late Wednesday, Milley estimated that about 200,000 soldiers — 100,000 Russian troops and 100,000 Ukrainian troops — had been killed in the fighting so far, Reuters reported. Milley said about 40,000 civilians caught up in the fighting have also been killed.