Russia Decides to Withdraw from Key Ukrainian Frontline Kherson... "Supply Operations Impossible"

Loss of Key Link Between Donbas and Crimea
Ukraine Counteroffensive Continues... Battle Situation Gradually Worsening

[Image source=AP Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunwoo Lee] The Russian military has decided to fully withdraw from the strategic city of Kherson on the Ukrainian front and establish defensive lines in the eastern part of the city. This decision is believed to be due to the complete blockade of supply routes caused by Ukrainian artillery fire, making it impossible to maintain the defense. With the Ukrainian forces recapturing Kherson, which connected Russia's major occupied areas such as the Crimean Peninsula and the Donbas region, the situation for the Russian military is expected to become increasingly unfavorable.

According to the Associated Press on the 9th (local time), Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu ordered the Russian troops to fully withdraw from Kherson on that day. Sergei Surovikin, the commander-in-chief of the Russian joint forces in the Ukrainian region, stated in a televised commentary that "it is no longer possible to conduct supply activities in Kherson," and Minister Shoigu agreed, ordering, "I agree with your conclusion. Withdraw the troops and relocate."

As a result, Kherson, the first major Ukrainian city occupied by Russia since the outbreak of the war in March, was successfully recaptured by Ukraine after about eight months. Kherson, a strategic point connecting Russia's major occupied territories such as the Crimean Peninsula and the eastern Donbas region, had completed the process of annexation to Russia following a referendum forced by the Russian government on the 5th of last month.

Ukrainian forces had recaptured approximately 500 square kilometers of Russian-occupied territory in this area last month and continued a large-scale offensive to reclaim the city. The Ukrainian offensive, which blocked key supply routes to Kherson using artillery weapons supported by the United States and the West, eventually forced the Russian military to withdraw. The pro-Russian puppet government already installed in the region had issued an evacuation order for residents starting from the 19th of last month.

Ukraine is still responding cautiously to the Russian military withdrawal. Mykhailo Podolyak, an advisor to the Ukrainian president, stated, "It is still too early to say that the Russian forces have withdrawn, as some Russian troops are still stationed in Kherson Oblast," drawing a line that the entire Kherson region has not yet been fully recaptured.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.