If indeed the Russian statement from Wednesday is reflected in a complete Russian withdrawal from the right bank of the Dnieper River, this is the end of an ongoing battle for Kherson province and its capital, the city of Kherson, during which the Ukrainian army managed to exhaust and wear down a vast and elite array of Russian forces.
The Russian army took the region by storm in early March, when forces from the Crimean peninsula flowed into southern Ukraine and managed to occupy large areas, advancing towards the city of Odessa in order to cut off Kyiv from the Black Sea.
The city of Kherson itself fell on the second of March, when Russian airborne forces managed to cross the Dnieper after an airborne operation in the Nova Kakhovka region, which caught the Ukrainian army by surprise.
Russian agents managed to prevent the explosion of the bridges over the river and allowed the Russian armored forces to cross and take control of the city and its surroundings.
After the Russian army was driven from the vicinity of the city of Mykolaiv during the spring months, the front in the province remained static and experts believed that Kyiv would launch a counter-offensive aimed at liberating Kherson, the largest city that fell to the Russian army during the entire war.
But instead of launching a frontal counterattack against the Russian force, which included dozens of battalion combat teams and units of the airborne forces, in Kiev they decided to adopt a different strategy.
The Ukrainian army has been systematically shelling, using long-range Himars missiles, the bridges, headquarters and ammunition and supply depots of the Russian army for months, cutting off the supply chains of the Russian forces, preventing them from going on the offensive or operating in other sectors.
Under constant shelling, the Russian army had to bring in supplies by barges and river ships and its firepower was significantly reduced by a shortage of shells.
In addition, the activity of Ukrainian partisans disturbed the Russian military occupation system and damaged the morale of the forces.
During the month of October, the Ukrainians managed to achieve a ground breakthrough in the east of the province and managed to occupy a strip of terrain on the right bank of the Dnieper, pushing the Russians west and south, as they threaten to occupy the Nova Khakhovka Dam area.
At this point, reports began to be heard on the Russian side about planning a possible retreat, which would allow the Russians to deploy to a more logical line of defense on the left bank of the river.
So far it seems that the Russian retreat is an organized and orderly retreat, like the retreat from Kiev and northern Ukraine.
This is a clear achievement for Kiev, which managed to beat and wear down the Russian army to retreat from one of its most significant military occupations during the fighting.
However, this is a withdrawal that will put the Ukrainians in trouble.
The evacuation of the massive force stationed in Kherson will free up for Russia several large and well-trained units that will be able to operate in other sectors, such as on the Donbass front, where the Ukrainians are on the defensive.
While the Ukrainians will have difficulty continuing to advance beyond the Dnieper, the Russians will be able to use the fresh forces and supplies that will be freed up in order to take the initiative and try to achieve significant achievements in the fighting until the winter months.
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