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Russia says pullout of troops from Kherson completed

Friday, 11 November 2022 1:49 PM [ Last Update: Friday, 11 November 2022 2:05 PM ]

This picture shows Ukrainian forces advancing on an armored vehicle in the Mykolaiv region, Ukraine, on November 4, 2022. (By Reuters)

Russia has announced that all its troops have pulled out of Kherson city in southern Ukraine.

All Russian forces and equipment have been transferred to the eastern bank of the Dnieper River in Ukraine’s southern Kherson region, the Russian Defense Ministry announced on Friday.

There was no loss of personnel or equipment during the withdrawal from the strategic city of Kherson, it added.

In a statement on Thursday, the Russian military announced it had begun pulling out of Kherson in an effort to avoid unnecessary losses to human lives, both among the military forces and the civilian residents.

Russia's commander in Ukraine, Sergei Surovikin, told Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu on Wednesday that some 115,000 people had been removed from the west bank of the Dnipro, which includes Kherson city. Kiev has already condemned the move as "illegal deportations."

For the past months, about half of the 70,000 people living in Kherson have remained in the face of intense fighting, mostly in the east of the city.

The Russians' move is considered to be a major setback in a region that joined the Russian Federation following a referendum in Kherson back in September.

Three other Ukrainian regions of Luhansk, Donetsk and Zaporizhia also joined Russia after similar referendums in the same month.

Four regions of Ukraine to become part of Russia as referendums conclude

NATO countries have dismissed the votes as a ‘sham.’

In the meantime, Ukrainian troops are pushing forward into the south.

Russia commenced what it called a "special military operation" in neighboring Ukraine on February 24, with the declared aim of “de-Nazifying” the country. Since the onset of the operation, the United States and its European allies have imposed waves of economic sanctions against Moscow while supplying large consignments of heavy weaponry to Kiev. The Kremlin says punitive measures against Moscow by the US and its allies and pouring advanced weapons into Ukraine will only prolong the war.

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