“Proceed with the withdrawal of the soldiers.
It was with these words launched on television that Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu ordered on Wednesday the withdrawal of Russian forces from Kherson, the strategic regional capital of southern Ukraine and the scene in recent weeks of a vast counter-offensive of the army of kyiv.
Already forced to abandon the Kharkiv region in September, this maneuver sounds like a political “failure” for the Kremlin, analyzes Thibault Fouillet, researcher at the Foundation for Strategic Research.
But for the expert in military strategy, the control of the city by the Ukrainians will only be "relative and progressive" if the Russians settle on the opposite bank of the Dnieper river, within firing range.
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