For the truth of Russia’s withdrawal from Kherson, I highly recommend watching the videos by Brian Berletic and Andrei Martyanov embedded below.
During his first video analysis, Brian references the following RT article dated 9th November which sets forth Russsia’s plans which western governments and propaganda churnalists have evidently chosen to ignore.
Russia has decided to withdraw its troops from the right bank of the Dnieper River, including the regional capital of Kherson. The Defense Ministry explained that it wants to avoid unnecessary losses among its forces and spare the lives of civilians.
While saying the decision was not easy, the commanders see little sense in keeping the troops on the right bank, the chief of the Russian military operation in Ukraine, Army General Sergey Surovikin, told Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu on Wednesday. The general pointed to continued Ukrainian attacks on the Kakhovskaya hydroelectric dam on the Dnieper River, arguing that it could mean the total isolation of Russian troops in Kherson.
“If the Kiev regime … launches an even more devastating attack on the Kakhovskaya dam, a flow of water could arise that would flood large areas, causing significant civilian casualties,” Surovikin added. This, according to the commander, “would create further threats for civilians and risk total isolation of our force grouping on the right bank of the Dnieper.”
A pullout would help avoid the worst-case scenario and also keep the combat effectiveness of the force grouping in the area, Surovikin said.
This is a very difficult decision. Yet, we would be able to preserve the most important thing: the lives of our soldiers.
“Start the pullback of forces,” Shoigu told Surovikin in a video released by media outlets. The minister ordered the general to organize secure relocation for both soldiers and civilians.
Over the past weeks, the local authorities have launched an effort to bring as many civilians as possible to the left bank of the Dnieper, citing a threat posed by Ukrainian forces located on the opposite side. Over 115,000 people had left the city as of today, according to Surovikin.
Russia incorporated Kherson Region last month, after residents voted in a referendum to break away from Ukraine and seek accession to Russia. Kiev rejected the vote as a “sham” and pledged to use military force to recapture all territories it considers to be under its sovereignty.
Ukraine has been waging a counter-offensive over the past two months, forcing Russian troops to fall back in some places. Earlier this week, Ukrainian troops launched several attacks, making an attempt in the east of Kharkov Region, in the northwestern part of the Lugansk People’s Republic, and in Kherson Region. All of the assaults were successfully repelled, the Russian military said.
According to Surovikin, Kiev’s troops suffered heavy losses, amounting to over 12,000 soldiers in October. Russian casualties were seven to eight times lower, he said. The general claimed that Russia’s troops managed to “stabilize” the situation on the frontlines, including with the help of those mobilized since late September.
Please watch the video analysis by Brian Berletic below.
Russia’s Ministry of Defense has announced the withdrawal of Russian forces from Kherson city to the east bank of the Dnieper River.
This was alluded to 3 weeks ago by General Sergey Surovikin and for the purpose of weathering Ukraine’s all-or-nothing offensive while preserving Russian manpower and equipment.
While Russian forces have successfully defended the city until now, even the slightest possibility of Ukrainian forces overwhelming Russian troops on the wrong side of the river would result in a defeat of historic proportions. Russia has now eliminated that possibility.
Meanwhile, Russian forces continue dismantling Ukraine’s national power grid, its air defense network, and what remains of its overstretched forces.
Ukraine fights for today’s headlines, Russia is fighting to win the long war
Brian followed up on Friday, 11th November with further information and analysis in his Russia's De-militarization of Ukraine Continues - US Sending Decades-Old Arms to Kiev video.
Update on Russian military operations in and around Ukraine for November 11, 2022.
- Russia completes withdrawal from Kherson city to east bank of the Dnieper River;
- Ukraine has lost its last major opportunity to corner and destroy/capture large numbers of Russian forces/equipment;
- Russia continues stated process of de-militarizing Ukraine;
- US aid to Ukraine becomes increasingly unrealistic - Hawk missiles designed in the 1960s and unused for 2 decades are being "refurbished" for a lack of better options;
- "Avenger" systems to be sent in small numbers (4) which are essentially Stinger missiles attached to a Hummer
- after training for Ukrainian operators is completed; - Dwindling amounts of basic ammunition continue to be sent to Ukraine, prolonging the conflict, but not in quantities to even allow Ukraine to hold what it has;
- As Russian forces withdrew from Kherson city, they advanced elsewhere in southern and northern Donbass.
I thought that this discussion with Brian Berletic and Angelo Guiliano streamed live on Friday 11th November was also very informative regarding Russia’s withdrawal from Kherson and the Ukraine situation as a whole.
Brian reminds us that Putin stated in his February 24, 2022 speech that Russia’s Special Military Operation was focused upon the demilitarisation and denazification of Ukraine as it impacted Russian residents in Eastern Ukraine.
I also recommend Andrei Martyanov's 10th November video, Kherson and Stuff. I very much appreciated his reference to the important flood maps for the Dnieper River at Kherson at the start in addition to his other unique information.
The meltdown of self proclaimed "Pro Russian" types over this is nothing short of epic. All one has to do is study the map (as well as the flood map) and you realize that if the NATO/Kiev gang blows the dam like they've been actively trying to do that scores of Russian troops will find themselves stranded on the wrong side of the Dneiper, cut off from supplies. That would be a much bigger disaster for Russia than this tactical retreat from a city where the friendly civilians have already been evacuated to other parts of Russia. There's no need for a Russian version of the Alamo in Kherson.
Last but certainly not least, I am sharing this RT article which supports what has been said for months now of Ukraine’s attempts to damage the dam along the Dnieper River upstream from Kherson.
The Kakhovskaya hydroelectric dam in Russia’s Kherson Region suffered “colossal” damage during attacks by Ukrainian forces, a local official has said.
The key infrastructure, located on the Dnieper River upstream from the city of Kherson, can still be repaired, but it will require some time, Vladimir Leontyev, the mayor of Novaya Kakhovka, told TASS on Sunday.
“I think with the use of modern technologies it can be repaired quite quickly. ‘Quite quickly’ in universal terms. We’re not talking about a few months, of course. It’ll take a year or more,” Leontyev said, adding that it was up to the experts to set the exact terms.
In another interview with Rossiya 24 channel, Leontyev said the Kakhovskaya hydroelectric dam “keeps standing and even operating” despite the Ukrainian attacks. “But in such circumstances we would likely be forced to conserve it, to our huge regret,” he pointed out.
In recent weeks, Russia has blamed Ukraine for launching numerous strikes on the dam with the use of US-supplied HIMARS multiple rocket launch systems.
Moscow insisted that Kiev was attacking the facility in an attempt to cause major flooding in the Kherson area. The Ukrainian authorities have denied those accusations, claiming that Russia was itself planning to destroy the dam in a false-flag operation.
Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu authorized the withdrawal of Russian troops from Kherson on Wednesday. General Sergey Surovikin, the commander of Russian forces in Ukraine, had argued that the move was required to prevent the needless deaths of soldiers and protect civilians from possible flooding.
According to the defense ministry, more than 30,000 Russian soldiers moved to the eastern bank of the Dnieper and took up defensive positions there, while more than 115,000 civilians were relocated from Kherson and surrounding areas since mid-October.
Two weeks ago, the relocation was expanded outside Kherson to a 15km (9.3 mile) zone on the left bank of the Dnieper, which included Novaya Kakhovka.
“Most of the city’s population [of some 44,000] have been evacuated by now,” Leontyev said, adding that people started leaving Novaya Kakhovka months ago amid missile attacks.
I recommend comparing the foregoing information to the plethora of legacy media misinformation cooked up by churnalists and their minders that has and continues to flood the controlled information sphere.
To help discern the oceans of propaganda spin and disinformation, as Brian Berletic mentioned, it is important to remember what Putin said of Russia’s Special Military Operation during his 24th February 2022 speech:
The purpose of this operation is to protect people who, for eight years now, have been facing humiliation and genocide perpetrated by the Kiev regime. To this end, we will seek to demilitarise and denazify Ukraine, as well as bring to trial those who perpetrated numerous bloody crimes against civilians, including against citizens of the Russian Federation.
Yes, important to understand when to fight and when not. But this division into tribal, warring nation states has been proven to be dangerous to children and other living things. Time to foment peace. We are fighting ourselves.
Yes, important to understand when to fight and when not. But this division into tribal, warring nation states has been proven to be dangerous to children and other living things. Time to foment peace. We are fighting ourselves.