HomeWorldNo water or electricity, but free. Kherson under the Ukrainian flag

No water or electricity, but free. Kherson under the Ukrainian flag

Where explosions and shots had been heard hours before, car horns, euphoric screams and chants were heard. The city of Kherson, capital of the same region in southern Ukraine, celebrated the arrival of its soldiers, despite the lack of basic services such as electricity or water. It was a holiday not only in that city, but also in Kiev, although the occupying forces continued to bomb civilians: in Mykolaiv, people mourned the seven deaths caused by a Russian missile. In Russia, after an initial wave of praise for the decision to withdraw, criticism came.

The speed with which the Ukrainian army climbed several kilometers and reached the center of the city must have surprised the government itself, which hours earlier was still skeptical about the total and rapid withdrawal of the Russians. The day before, US Chief of Staff General Mark Milley predicted “days and maybe even weeks” of withdrawal.

On the side of the invader, the Russian Ministry of Defense said the withdrawal operation to the left (eastern) bank of the Dnieper River had been completed. “In total, more than 30,000 Russian troops and about 5,000 pieces of weaponry and military vehicles have been evacuated,” Moscow said, according to the Interfax news agency. The end of the withdrawal operation came just a day and a half after it was announced by his high command, although Ukrainians and observers had recorded military movement for several days.

Russian troops, previously unable to resupply due to Ukrainian bombing of strategic points such as the Antonovsky Bridge, eventually blew up some of that infrastructure, as well as the bridge next to the Nova Kokhovka dam, 70 kilometers northeast of Kherson. In this way they make it impossible for the Ukrainians to advance quickly to the eastern bank of the river, where the Russian army is building fortifications together with the Crimea.

In addition, and according to a satellite photo published by the company Maxar, it shows a northern part of the dam and the gates that have been “deliberately destroyed”. In recent days, Russia has accused Ukraine of bombing infrastructure there. Kiev and Moscow have accused each other of planning to blow up the dam, which would flood much of the downstream area. President Volodymyr Zelensky even declared that the destruction of the dam would amount to a “declaration of war on the whole world” by Moscow.

The version of the Russian Ministry of Defense about the end of the withdrawal operation, with no loss of life or equipment, was denied by the Ukrainians. Sergey Khlan, head of government expelled by the Russians, said at a news conference that not all of the Russian soldiers had crossed the river, saying several had drowned and others had dropped their military clothes and were disguised as Ukrainian civilians.

“Today is a historic day. We take back the south of our country, take back Kherson. The people waited. They never gave up on Ukraine. Hope in Ukraine is always justified – and Ukraine always takes back its own hope.” Volodymyr Zelensky

As French President Emmanuel Macron welcomed Kherson’s release, “an important step towards the full restoration of sovereign rights” in Ukraine, Zelensky spoke to German Chancellor Olaf Scholz about the latest developments. For Moscow, however, the withdrawal of the city and the right bank of the Dnieper is not a matter of course. “The Kherson region is a territory of the Russian Federation. This status is established and cannot be changed,” emphasized Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.

But after men close to Putin defended Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Commander Sergei Surovikin over the decision to “regroup”, protests began to erupt among the more extremist members. A young woman was filmed cutting herself on her arm saying that the blood “shed for nothing” belongs to the “fighters”. “Putin, Shoigu, Surovikin, this blood is on you. We will not forgive you!”

And if regime ideologue Alexander Dugin’s report had not been hacked, he would have sharply criticized the leader, which is new. The man who has been saying for days that a “holy war” has been going on between Russia and the “satanic” West made no secret of the seriousness of the situation and predicted that Vladimir Putin could end badly. Dugin — whose daughter died in August after an explosion in the car she was traveling in — described the Russian regime as an autocracy that “gives full power in case of success, but also full responsibility in case of failure”.

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Author: Caesar Grandma

Source: DN

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