NewsGate Press Network

The Russia-Ukraine war which started on 24th of February earlier this year entered its crucial phase when on Friday the 11th of November 2022 Russian forces acknowledged withdrawal from Kherson.

This city is in south region of Ukraine.

BBC reported from Moscow that a defence ministry  official stated that all Russian soldiers were moved across the Dnipro river to the eastern bank early Friday morning.

The withdrawing red army columns left no military equipment or weapons on the west bank, reports suggested.

Since the morning hours on Friday social media and tv news channels have been flooded with photos showing several spans destroyed on the only road bridge out of Kherson. That prompted bloggers who closely follow the war to say Russia’s withdrawal from the western bank of the Dnipro river was over.

It was on Wednesday that Russia’s military top brass announced they were withdrawing from that side of the river, the BBC reported.

Meanwhile, President Volodymyr Zelensky said overnight that Ukrainian forces had retaken dozens of towns and villages as they advanced towards Kherson city, the report said.

Moscow’s commander in Ukraine announced the withdrawal on Wednesday saying it wasn’t possible to continue supplying the city.

If Kherson is back in Ukrainian hands by the end of the day, which seems possible, then this would be a hugely consequential moment in the nearly nine-month-long war.

The loss of Kherson is on a par with Russia’s humiliating withdrawal from the capital Kyiv earlier in the year, and caps a stunning three-month change of fortunes for the Ukrainians.