Posted on 11/03/2022 11:46:03 AM PDT by marcusmaximus
A Russian-installed occupation official in southern Ukraine said on Thursday Moscow was likely to pull its troops from the west bank of the Dnipro River, signalling a huge retreat that, if confirmed, would be a major turning point in the war.
Still, Ukrainian officials and Western analysts remained cautious about signs that Russia was abandoning the area, and there was silence from higher-ups in Moscow over what would amount to one of Russia's most humiliating retreats so far.
Kyiv said it was still fighting in the area and was wary that Moscow could be setting a trap by feigning a pull-out.
"Most likely our units, our soldiers, will leave for the left (eastern) bank," Kirill Stremousov, the Russian-installed deputy civilian administrator of the Kherson region, said in an interview with Solovyov Live, a pro-Kremlin online media outlet.
The area includes Kherson city, capital of the region of the same name, and the only major city Russia has captured intact since its invasion in February. It also includes one side of a huge dam across the Dnipro which controls the water supply to irrigate Crimea, the peninsula Russia has occupied since 2014.
Previously, Russia had vehemently denied its forces were planning to withdraw from the area, one of the most important new conquests which President Vladimir Putin claimed to have annexed to Russia at the end of September.
Speculation swirled on Thursday over whether Russia was indeed pulling out, after photos circulated on the internet showing the main administrative building in Kherson city with Russia's flag no longer flying atop it. Ukraine said those images could be Russian disinformation.
Natalia Humeniuk, spokesperson for Ukraine's southern military command, said it could be a Russian trap.
(Excerpt) Read more at usnews.com ...
A reality check of the on-the-ground tactical situation on the ground on the Kherson front:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kAaEkTm1mGU
Local authorities in Kherson explained the absence of the Russian flag on the administration building:
“The government of the Oblast was transferred in full to Genichesk as recently as last week. The building on the square used to house the Ukrainian state administration. No Russian administrative agencies were originally there, the building was mothballed”.
— NE.SAKHAR
If they start hauling ass AWAY from an area that wasn’t under imminent loss…that might be the time to start taking iodide tablets.
I don’t want to sound like I know everything military…but those just look like stationary targets for a cheap RPG. That’s not an Iwo Jima pillbox.
Prefab made out of typical Russian crappy quality concrete.
Putin hauling ass across the river to try to save Crimea. It Putin nukes Kherson he nukes his water supply to Crimea.
That makes sense.
I just know when someone backs up faster than they “should” it makes sense to fill that gap cautiously. Knowing the “escalate to de-escalate” part of their doctrine makes my neck hairs tingle a little.
But, no matter the reason, it’s good to see them retreating.
It looks like a trap of some sort. Pull NATO into a Stalingrad where they can be cut to pieces. General Winter has yet to take the field—Ukraine’s know the bitter force of winter, but do the soft NATO Troops? The USA Troops—their last station was in the Middle East? House to house fighting is mean and ugly. Fancy electronic weapons may not, like Tesla Cars, work well in snowy weather. Lets hope we don’t send American Boys into that frozen hell hole. What’s with these oversized shoebox-pillboxes? Best to avoid this mess.
Who is talking about US troops there?
Getting a bit ahead of things I think.
Someone has been drinking it seems.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hlUI9g5t1is
Oh, because CBS is the arbiter of US military policy.
We are not invading Ukraine. In the winter.
Remember the jokes about military rifles that were "never fired, only dropped once", what about prefabricated pill boxes? "Never used, only blown up once" or "Never used, only one grenade thrown inside" sound a little off.
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