First deduction, then shelling: Russians fire on Cherson

First trigger, then shelling
Russians fire on Cherson

11/11/2022 5:02 p.m

In the morning, the Ministry of Defense in Moscow reports the successful “transfer” of soldiers from Cherson to the south bank of the Dnipro. Hours later, the Russian army shells the region. Ukraine is warning its citizens about booby traps and Russian civilian soldiers.

Shortly after the withdrawal of Russian troops from the Ukrainian regional capital of Cherson and other places north of the Dnipro, Russia says it began attacking the region it had just given up. “Currently, troops and military equipment of the Ukrainian armed forces are being shelled on the right bank of the Dnipro River,” the Russian Defense Ministry said. Russia considers the Kherson region as its own territory. Along with three other Ukrainian oblasts, the region was illegally annexed in September.

Just hours earlier, Igor Konashenkov, the spokesman for the Russian Defense Ministry, said that all Russian units in the southern Ukrainian region had been moved to the left bank of the river. The “transfer” – which reportedly took place under Ukrainian fire – was completed with no casualties. According to information from Moscow, there are a total of more than 30,000 soldiers who are now stationed south-east of the Dnipro.

The Ukrainian side had already prepared for attacks on the places that had just been recaptured. The spokeswoman for the southern command of the Ukrainian army, Nataliya Humenyuk, said on Ukrainian television on Friday that the armed forces expected “massive shelling” of Kherson. This is due to the proximity of the Russians’ new line of defense on the opposite bank of the Dnipro, she said.

In Kherson, the Ukrainian troops were greeted with cheers by the city’s residents. Meanwhile, Ukrainian authorities warned of mines and booby traps that the Russians may have left behind. The Kherson regional council called for people not to touch suspicious objects and abandoned Russian vehicles and not to enter buildings used by the Russians. In the Kherson region, four civilians were reportedly injured, including two children, when their vehicle ran over a mine. The Regional Council warned also, Russian soldiers could remain in the area in civilian clothes and carry out “provocations”.

evidence of war crimes

Again there are indications of possible Russian war crimes. The Ukrainian news agency Ukrinform reportsthe remains of three civilians with fractured skulls were discovered in a liberated village in the Kherson region.

On Wednesday, Russia announced the withdrawal of troops from the areas northwest of the Dnipro because it was impossible to supply its own soldiers after the Ukrainian army had made the bridges impassable, at least for heavy vehicles.