Russia needs at least one week to leave Kherson, Ukrainian Defense Minister says
Oleksii Reznikov (Photo:REUTERS/Yves Herman)
It will take at least a week for Moscow to withdraw all of its troops from Kherson and ferry them across the Dnipro River, Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov told Reuters on Nov. 10.
“It isn’t so easy to withdraw these troops from Kherson in one or two days,” Reznikov said, acknowledging that it is difficult to predict Russia’s actions. “It will take at least one week.”
The minister noted that Russia kept 40,000 troops in Kherson Oblast and it still has forces in and around Kherson City.
He also described the idea that Russia would blow up the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Station dam during a retreat, as insane. Blowing up the dam will flood the territories controlled by Moscow, and will also block the access of the occupied Crimea to fresh water.
On Nov. 9, Moscow officially announced the retreat of its troops from Kherson to the left bank of the Dnipro River due to Ukraine’s ongoing counteroffensive in the region.
According to the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valerii Zaluzhnyi, after the Ukraine forces destroyed Russians’ logistical routes and ruined their command-and-control system, the enemy was left with no other choice than to retreat.
On Nov. 10, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced that Ukrainian forces had liberated 41 settlements in the southern part of the country.
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