“Regrouping” in Kherson
Russian agencies withdraw report on withdrawal
November 13, 2023, 12:27 p.m
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Russian state media first reported a “regrouping” on the Dnipro River, but then retracted these reports. The Kremlin does not want to comment on the incident and refers to the military. The Defense Ministry in Moscow speaks of a “provocation.”
Two Russian state news agencies this morning retracted their own reports about an alleged withdrawal of the Russian army from the Ukrainian region of Kherson. “The leadership of the ‘Dnepr’ group has decided to regroup the armed forces to more favorable positions in the east of the (river) Dnipro,” Tass said. The Ria Novosti agency published a similar text. About ten minutes later, both announced that the reports had been “cancelled.”
A little later, the Russian news media RBK quoted the Russian Defense Ministry as saying that it was a case of “sending false news” and a “provocation.” What exactly was behind the incident is unclear. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov declined to comment. Commenting on events on the battlefield during the “special military operation” is the responsibility of the military.
The Russian army had not previously publicly announced the regrouping. However, journalists from the Russian exile media Meduza pointed out that Russian state media often received ministry announcements before they were officially published. According to Meduza, a Russian Telegram channel claimed that Ria Novosti received the information from a fake Russian Defense Ministry account. However, other sources did not confirm this account, said Meduza.
The Russian military has used “regroupings” to describe its own defeats and retreats in the past – for example in the fall of 2022 in the Kharkiv region of eastern Ukraine. Russia has been waging a war of aggression against Ukraine for more than 20 months now and initially almost completely occupied the Kherson region. Almost a year ago, the Ukrainian army liberated the northwestern parts of the area. The Dnipro River formed the front line ever since.
In recent weeks there have been increasing reports that the Ukrainians have crossed over to the southern bank as part of their counteroffensive and have already established themselves there. They therefore also brought several islands under their control. However, this has not yet been officially confirmed.