Sergei Shoigu announced on television on Wednesday that Russian forces would withdraw from the right bank of the Dnieper River, in the Ukrainian region of Kherson, which includes the regional capital of the same name.
It is the only regional capital that Moscow has been able to claim conquest. Having constituted Kherson the main Russian stronghold, after the conquest of the city in the first days of the offensive against Ukraine.
“Obviously it’s a big failure, but it’s not a surprise,” said Michel Goya, defense consultant for BFMTV, who confirms that “the final decision was made by Vladimir Putin himself.”
In fact, this decrease is added to that of the Kharkiv region in September. Even if Kyiv does not see “any sign” of withdrawal, for the consultant, “there will be a decrease, now it is registered.”
This acknowledgment of failure, which many knew how to anticipate, is shared on our channel by Julien Vaïsse, historian, founder and general director of the Paris Peace Forum: “It is one of the stages of the war, but I don’t think it is a turning point We have seen the Russians retreat since the summer.”
What is the goal of the Kremlin?
However, it remains unlikely that the Kremlin will acknowledge a withdrawal of its army because of a defeat. “In general, in military tactics, withdrawal means nothing at all. It may be a withdrawal today, but a counteroffensive tomorrow,” Russian Embassy spokesman Alexander Makogonov told BFMTV several weeks ago.
Admiral Alain Coldefy, former Inspector General of the Armed Forces and former Deputy Chief of the French General Staff, analyzed on BFMTV the ambition of Vladimir Putin behind this military withdrawal, which he perceives as a “pseudo camouflage of defeat.”
“The Russians are part of the long run. This should not hide the defeat on the ground for a few weeks, but Putin has decided to continue the war, go to the end, reap victories to return to his people and say ‘we’.” he will win,” he described.
Source: BFM TV
