Commander of the so-called "special military operation", de-facto invasion of Ukraine Sergey Surovikin officially turned to minister of defense Shoigu with proposition to leave the west of Dnipro river, which in turn results in retreat from Kherson – the biggest city captured by russia since the start of military campaign.
Ukrinform reports referring to russian media that the reason voiced out by Surovikin was, Kherson and nearby territories are too difficult to supply. In his turn, minister Shoigu gave his consent:
Read more: russian Withdrawal From Kherson Won’t Be Easy – British Intelligence
"Having assessed the situation, I suggest setting up defense along the left bank of Dnipro," he replied.
For that reason, Ukrainian officials remain skeptical about russian claims which may be part of a russian PSYOP. Several authorities from southern civilian administrations urged to stick to official information from the military.
Adviser of the Office of the President of Ukraine Mykhailo Podoliak told journalists on national television that today’s meeting of the General Staff, National Defense Council and President of Ukraine discussed the current military plans, among other things:
"We have our own plan, own scenario for the liberation of territories," he stressed, and Ukraine will stick to it regardless of russian announcements which, in Podoliak’s opinion, were directed to the russian audience rather than represent the actual state of affairs.
Meanwhile, the Ukrainian military hasn’t commented on the issue yet. In the past weeks, the Defense Intelligence of Ukraine has been observing increased activities by russian columns moving to the left bank of the river with the robbed property of civilians.
However, two weeks ago there were no signs of russian forces redeploying to the east of the river, other than "plans" to spare the artillery systems and relocate them to a safer position.
Chief of the Defense Intelligence Kyrylo Budanov in an interview to Ukrainska Pravda at that time said while evacuating administrative personnel and russian civilian services such as banking and telecom, russian army still was sending reinforcements into Kherson.
"They are creating the illusion that all is lost. And at the same time, on the contrary, they’re bringing in new military units and preparing the streets of the city for defense," Budanov said in the interview on October 24.
"That is, they realize that if we take control of the Kakhovka dam at least, which is the only transport artery that is fully functioning now, they will have to make a decision very quickly: either they leave the city very, very quickly and get out, or they risk ending up in the same situation that our units in Mariupol found themselves in earlier. The situation is a little different, but conceptually it will be very similar."
Read more: Russia’s Statements Regarding "Difficult Decisions" in Kherson, Deportation of Locals And the Threat of Blowing Up the Kakhovska HPP: the Trap Or Reality
