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In a highly unusual incident, two Russian state news agencies published alerts saying Moscow was moving troops to “more favourable positions” east of the Dnipro River in Ukraine this week, only to withdraw the information minutes later.
Russia has previously used similar phrasing about moving troops to more advantageous positions in order to describe retreats.
Members of Ukraine’s 56th Brigade fire an anti-aircraft gun in the Bakhmut District of Ukraine. Credit: Getty
President Volodymyr Zelensky’s chief of staff said on Tuesday that Ukrainian forces have secured a foothold on the east bank of the Dnipro River in southern Ukraine.
Andriy Yermak’s remarks were the first official acknowledgement that Ukrainian troops were established on the Dnipro’s east bank in Kherson region.
“Against all odds, Ukraine’s Defence Forces have gained a foothold on the left (east) bank of the Dnipro,” Yermak said in an address to the Hudson Institute think-tank in the United States. The remarks were posted on Zelensky’s website.
“Step by step, they are demilitarising Crimea. We have covered 70 per cent of the distance. And our counteroffensive is developing.”
Andriy Yermak, chief of staff of the Ukrainian Presidential Office.Credit: Reuters
Russian forces seized Kherson region in the early days of their February 2022 invasion of Ukraine but late last year abandoned the regional capital – also called Kherson – and the Dnipro’s west bank. They have since shelled Kherson and other towns from new positions on the east bank.
As Ukraine’s four-month-old counteroffensive secures only incremental gains, Ukrainian officials have been cautious in describing the activities of their forces on the east bank.
A military spokesperson this month said “not bad results” had been achieved on the east bank in forcing Russian troops to reposition. Unofficial accounts have noted Ukrainian advances.
Russia’s military said last week its forces had thwarted a Ukrainian attempt to forge a bridgehead on the eastern bank and on nearby islands, killing around 500 Ukrainian soldiers. Reuters could not independently verify the battlefield claim.
In his address to the Hudson Institute, Yermak said the only certainty was that Russia had no intention of stopping the war, but hoped “to outlast and out-endure the unity of democracies”.
“We need weapons right now. Russia still has air superiority,” he told the gathering.
“It still is capable of producing missiles due to circumvention of sanctions. Not to mention the Iranian drones and North Korean artillery rounds.”
On Monday, in a series of three alerts, Russia’s RIA state news agency said the command of Russia’s Dnepr group of forces had decided to relocate troops to “more favourable positions” east of the Dnipro.
A sapper examines ammunition left by Russian troops in the village of Kiseliovka, close to Kherson, earlier this month.Credit: AP
It said that, after the regrouping, the Dnepr force would release some troops to be deployed in offensives on other fronts.
RIA said the Russian military command had agreed with the Dnepr leadership’s conclusions and ordered the relocation of troops to start.
Minutes later, RIA withdrew all three alerts, without explanation.
Another state agency, TASS, published just one alert on troops regrouping to more favourable positions, and then withdrew it, saying it had been released in error. It apologised to its subscribers and readers.
Reuters
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