Russia says Kherson pullout begins as Ukraine claims taking swathes of territory

Moscow says Russian forces have begun withdrawing from Kherson as Ukraine claims its troops have taken back swathes of territory in the southern region.

In a statement on Thursday, the Russian Defense Ministry announced it had begun pulling out of Kherson, the eponymous capital of the region, a day after it said the decision had been made to avoid unnecessary losses among Russian forces and spare civilian lives.

"The Russian troop units are maneuvering to prepared position on the left bank of the Dnipro River in strict accordance with the approved plan," it said.

The move would be considered as a major Russian setback in a region that joined the Russian Federation following a referendum in Kherson back in September. Three other Ukrainian regions of Luhansk, Donetsk and Zaporizhia also joined Russia after similar referendums in the same month. 

Kiev claims it has recaptured a dozen villages in the strategic Black Sea region while Russian forces were retreating. Ukrainian troops have for weeks purportedly been retaking villages en route to the region's capital city. 

According to Ukrainian General Valeriy Zaluzhny, Ukraine's forces have managed to retake a total of more than 200 square kilometers from the Russians in the region.

Late Wednesday, Russia's most senior defense officials responsible for Ukraine said in a televised meeting they had made the "difficult decision" to pull out from Kherson and establish defensive lines further back. However, Kiev treated the announcement with skepticism.

"At this point, we can't confirm or deny information about the retreat of Russian troops from Kherson," said Oleksiy Gromov, from the Ukrainian armed forces' general staff.

Russia to withdraw troops from Kherson front line to avoid harm to civilians

Russia will withdraw its troops from the Dnipro River’s west bank in the face of attacks by Ukraine’s forces near the southern city of Kherson.

As Ukrainian troops push forward in the south, Russia's commander in Ukraine, Sergei Surovikin, told Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu on Wednesday that some 115,000 people had been removed from the west bank of the Dnipro, which includes Kherson city. Kiev has already condemned the move as "illegal deportations."

For the past months, about half of the 70,000 people living in Kherson have remained in the face of intense fighting, mostly in the east of the city.

Russia commenced what it called a "special military operation" in neighboring Ukraine on February 24, with the declared aim of “de-Nazifying” the country. Since the onset of the operation, the United States and its European allies have imposed waves of economic sanctions against Moscow while supplying large consignments of heavy weaponry to Kiev. The Kremlin says punitive measures against Moscow by the US and its allies and pouring advanced weapons into Ukraine will only prolong the war.

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