JAKARTA - Ukrainian troops continue to move forward to the south of Kherson's strategic river port, after Moscow ordered one of the biggest retreats of the war, although officials fear Russian troops can still turn Kherson into a 'city of death', as they are expected to take at least one week to withdraw.
Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov told Reuters in an interview on Thursday that Russia has a contingent of 40,000 troops in the Kherson region and intelligence shows its troops remain within the city, around the city and on the western bank of the vast Dnipro River.
"It's not easy to withdraw these troops from Kherson in a day or two. At least one week," Reznikov said.
The withdrawal in Kherson will free troops from both sides to fight elsewhere. Russian troops under General Sergei Surovikin seem to have become more disciplined and brutal since his appointment as a new commander of Russian invasion forces in October, Reznikov said.
Russia announced its troop withdrawal from the western bank of Dnipro covering the city of Kherson on Wednesday, the only regional capital Moscow has captured since it invaded Ukraine in February.
West military and diplomatic sources warned that Russia's military move meant nothing was said and done, even if it was a big win for Ukraine.
"This is definitely a turning point, but that doesn't mean that Russia has lost or Ukraine has won," said Ben Barry, a senior researcher for the land war at the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London.
He said Russia was still capable of offensive or new counter-attacks.
"It's too early to delete it," Barry said.
As previously reported, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu ordered his troops to withdraw from the western bank of the Dnipro River, near Kherson's southern strategic city of Ukraine, in a significant setback for Moscow and a potential turning point in the war.
However, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky did not want to overdo the announcement, calling Ukrainian forces step by step to strengthen its position in the South.
"There is a lot of joy in today's information room, and it's clear why. But, the enemy will not reward us," President Zelensky said, calling Kherson only once in his five-minute speech.
Separately, US President Joe Biden said Moscow's order to withdraw from Kherson was "a testament to the fact that they have some real problems with the Russian military."
It is known that if Ukrainian troops seized all of Dnipro's western edge, US-supplied long-range artillery and double-HIMars rocket launchers would be able to attack Russian bases and logistics positions on the east bank, according to military experts.
The English, Chinese, Japanese, Arabic, and French versions are automatically generated by the AI. So there may still be inaccuracies in translating, please always see Indonesian as our main language. (system supported by DigitalSiber.id)
