Kherson

The strategic port city in southern Ukraine had been occupied by Moscow since February. Read more at straitstimes.com.

“He is in charge of people. The withdrawal from Kherson would allow Russian forces to entrench themselves behind the natural barrier of the Dnipro river but would make it more difficult to pursue an offensive in the region. On Thursday, Russian state-controlled television channels provided minimal coverage of the retreat in an apparent effort not to dwell on the embarrassing development. The pullback was announced after Russian troops were forced to retreat from swathes of the north-eastern region of Kharkiv in September, and could further affect the morale of the army that is already relying on hundreds of thousands of reservists without combat experience. “The battle of Kherson is not inherently over,” said The Institute for the Study of War, a US-based think tank. Military experts believe the announcement of the Russian pullout is not a ruse.