Russia and Ukraine
An official appointed by Moscow denied that Russian forces had withdrawn from the city
The Ukrainian army said, on Thursday, that the Russian forces withdrew from the city of Nova Kakhovka, located on the opposite side of the Dnipro River in the Kherson region in southern Ukraine.
And the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense said via Telegram: “On March 22, 2023 (Wednesday), all units of the occupation army deployed in Nova Kakhovka in the Kherson region left,” quoting AFP.
Nova Kakhovka, which had a population of 45,000 before the Russian attack, is located northeast of Kherson, from which the Russians withdrew in November 2022 to move to the opposite bank of the Dnipro River.
The city is also close to the Kakhovka hydroelectric dam, which the Russians seized at the beginning of their attack on Ukraine at the end of February 2022.
An official appointed by Moscow denied that the Russian forces had withdrawn from the aforementioned city in the Kherson region.
“I officially announce that all Russian military personnel in Nova Kakhovka, as well as in other areas on the left bank of the Dnipro River, remain in their posts,” Vladimir Saldo said on Telegram.
Earlier, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, today, Thursday, published footage from a visit he made to the Kherson region in the south of the country, where he pledged to “take everything back” from the Russians.
A Ukrainian counterattack late last year prompted Russian forces to withdraw from Kherson, months after they took control of it.
Zelensky visited, in particular, the town of Posad-Pokrovsky, which was subjected to great destruction and was controlled by the Russians until their withdrawal in the fall of 2022, according to photos published by the Ukrainian presidency.
Zelensky also visited a power plant that was damaged during the bombing of Ukrainian energy facilities throughout the winter.
The presidential account on Telegram stated that this tour focused on reconstruction in the Kherson region, where Zelensky chaired a meeting on this subject.
Since the beginning of the war in February 2022, Russia has controlled a large part of the Kherson region, including its capital of the same name.
But a Ukrainian counterattack forced the Russian forces to withdraw from the northern part and retreat last November to the other side of the Dnipro River.
However, the liberated area, a major agricultural area in Ukraine, especially the city of Kherson, has become the target of regular Russian bombing.
Yesterday, Wednesday, Zelensky visited military sites near the city of Bakhmut, located on the front line in eastern Ukraine, where he promised to achieve a military victory over Russia.
And the Ukrainian president inspected his troops in the nearest place of the front, near Bakhmut, and then in Kharkiv. Zelensky appeared in a video during his meeting with soldiers in a warehouse, where he decorated them.