It is likely that the Russian authorities are seriously considering a major withdrawal of their forces from the area west of the Dnipro river in Kherson Oblast, the British Intelligence reports.
It cites the “highly unusual” announcement of the recently appointed commander of Russian forces in Ukraine, General Sergei Surovikin, who told Russian media that “a difficult situation has emerged” in the Kherson area and endorsed the previously announced plans of the occupation authorities to evacuate the civilian population.
However, a key challenge before this withdrawal would be to extract troops and equipment across the 1000m wide river in good order.
https://twitter.com/DefenceHQ/status/1582968845999820801?t=CI1tXFIRrW-_yoTlLk6wqA&s=19
“With all the permanent bridges severely damaged, Russia would highly likely rely heavily on a temporary barge bridge it completed near Kherson in recent days, and military pontoon ferry units, which continue to operate at several locations,” the British Intelligence writes.
On 18 October 2022,
As the overall operational commander, Surovikin’s announcement highlighting negative news about the “special military operation” is highly unusual. It likely indicates that the Russian authorities are seriously considering a major withdrawal of their forces from the area west of the Dnipro river.
