The Ukrainian military had warned that Russian forces might try to feign a retreat in hopes of drawing them into urban combat.
Russia’s defence minister, Sergei K. Shoigu, has ordered the retreat of Moscow’s forces from the strategically important southern city of Kherson, Ukraine.
The move announced on Wednesday, came after Gen. Sergei Surovikin, the commander of Russia’s forces in Ukraine, told Sergei K. Shoigu, Russia’s defence minister, that a withdrawal would “preserve lives of servicemen and combat readiness of forces.”
However, Surovikin said the decision was “difficult”, according to New York Times.
"Having comprehensively assessed the current situation, it is proposed to take up defence along the left (eastern) bank of the Dnipro River," said Surovikin.
"I understand that this is a very difficult decision, but at the same time we will preserve the most important thing - the lives of our servicemen and, in general, the combat effectiveness of the group of troops, which it is futile to keep on the right bank in a limited area."
The Ukrainian military had warned that Russian forces might try to feign a retreat in hopes of drawing them into urban combat.
The military had through the day on Wednesday been tracking signs of a Russian retreat but was not convinced the Russian military intends to fully withdraw from Kherson City and the surrounding Russian bridgehead on the western bank of the Dnipro River, Roman Kostenko, a colonel in the army and chairman of the defence and intelligence committee in Ukraine’s Parliament, said in a telephone interview.
“We have signs they are pulling out,” Colonel Kostenko said. “They blew up bridges that would have allowed our forces to advance. We see them leaving population centres, but in some they leave soldiers behind to cover their movements.”
He said Ukrainian intelligence agencies were working to assess Russia’s movements, adding that the announcement made by Russia could be deceptive or a misdirection.
“We understand it is Russia” making the announcement, he said. “We are watching.”
A retreat from the city of Kherson would be a major victory for Ukrainian forces, who have long sought to recapture the city and push back Russian troops from the western banks of the Dnipro River.
The withdrawal from the only regional capital under Moscow’s control is also a humiliating public rout for Putin, who Western intelligence officials said had rejected earlier requests from commanders that they should be allowed to pull back from the city.
Kherson is the main city of the region of the same name - one of four Ukrainian regions which President Vladimir Putin proclaimed in September he was incorporating into Russia "forever", and which the Kremlin said had now been placed under Moscow's nuclear umbrella.
Compounding the sense of Russian disarray in Kherson, Moscow's number two official there, Kirill Stremousov, was killed in a car crash on Wednesday.
Stremousov was one of the most prominent faces of Russia's occupation. Ukraine viewed him as a collaborator and a traitor.
In a video statement only hours before his death, Stremousov denounced what he called Ukrainian "Nazis" and said the Russian military was in "full control" of the situation in the south.