The Ukrainian military said on Thursday that Russia had withdrawn part of its troops from towns near the city of Kherson on the opposite bank of the Dnipro River, marking Ukraine’s first official announcement of Russia’s withdrawal from what is now the main front line in the south, Reuters reports, News.ro reports. .

The Ukrainian military statement provided only limited details and did not mention whether Ukrainian forces had forced the Dnipro. Ukrainian officials also said that Russia had stepped up shelling across the river, again knocking out power in Kherson, where power was just beginning to be restored nearly three weeks after Russian troops left the city and retreated to the other side of the river. .

Russia has already ordered civilians to leave towns within a 15km radius of the river and has withdrawn its civil administration from the town of Nova Kakhovka on the east bank of the river.

Ukrainian officials previously said that Russia had moved some of its artillery near the river to safer positions further away, but it has not so far said that Russian troops are leaving the cities.

“There is a decrease in the number of Russian soldiers and military equipment in the settlement of Olesha,” the Ukrainian military said, referring to the city opposite Kherson, on the other side of the destroyed bridge over the Dnipro.

“Enemy troops have been withdrawn from certain settlements of the Kherson region and are dispersed in forest strips on the section of the Oleshi – Gola Prystan highway,” the army said, referring to the 25-kilometer section of the road that crosses the settlements on the shore of the village. Dnipro, scattered among the forests on the opposite bank of the city of Kherson.

According to the Ukrainian military, most of the Russian troops in the area are recently mobilized reservists, indicating that Moscow’s professional, best-trained troops have already left the area.

Reuters says it cannot confirm this information from independent sources.

On the other hand, as CNN reports, Volodymyr Saldo, the head of the Kherson region appointed by Russia, said that on the eastern bank of the Dnipro, in the territory occupied by Russia. Saldo added that the fortifications are being built quickly, and for this “significant financial resources have been allocated and a large number of construction companies have been involved.” Speaking on his Telegram channel, Saldo concluded by saying that there were problems with the phone connection, but that the Internet was “pretty stable.”

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