Withdrawal from Kherson: Blame to Cover Putin’s Next Defeat | Politics

It’s the next big smack for warlord Putin: His army is gearing up to take back much of the recently illegally annexed Cherson region. But this time the “scorched earth” was intended to cover up a humiliating defeat – with disastrous consequences for the region and Ukraine.

At least that’s what the words imply Even Sergey Surovic (56) From Wednesday. The new commander of the Russian army in Ukraine has spoken of a “difficult situation”. He ordered the “evacuation” (alternatively: forced resettlement) of the inhabitants of the occupied territory and the regional capital of the same name, Cherson.

of Surovik Talked about “difficult decisions”. Experts believe this is a hint of new war crimes against Ukraine.

Communication preparation for withdrawal

British intelligence characterized the commander’s statement as “highly unusual”. They stand as a clear departure from previous communications from Putin’s military, which have always whitewashed its position in the war. At best, he spoke of “tactical retreat.” For example, thousands of soldiers were surrounded by the Ukrainian army in the city of Lyman and driven out in early October.

Unlike Lyman, according to American media Putin Having personally barred its generals from withdrawing, the Russian military now seems to want to withdraw at the right time – to save soldiers and war material. The clear line for this convergence: the 1,000-meter-wide Dnieper River on the east bank of which the Russians want to retreat.

As most of the bridges were badly damaged, they had to do it Russia According to British intelligence, a temporary barrier bridge completed in the last few days near Kherson could be relied upon. There are also military boat units at many places.

The Russians are planning a flood disaster

But Surovikhin’s “honesty” about the difficulties of the army was not the only one. This was linked to the over-exaggeration of the Ukrainian danger and was behind their attack NATO.

In addition, Churovykin revealed another ridiculous lie: Ukraine wants to blow up the dam at the Khakovka reservoir near Nova Khakovka, he said.

Why this statement? According to the American think tank “Institute for the Study of War” (ISW), he is preparing the ground for a so-called “false flag operation”: Russia wants to blow up the dam itself and then blame it on Ukraine.

A flood would cover the Russian retreat and the next humiliating defeat of Putin’s army (after Kyiv and Kharkiv). Additionally, Russian propaganda could use it to brand Ukraine even more strongly as a terrorist state — and thus justify its own atrocities.

Are the Russians following a scorched earth tactic?

In addition to the attack on the dam, Russia is trying to bleed the abandoned areas as much as possible. According to ISW, the “evictions” or forced relocations of citizens from Cherson also point to this. They will have no economic advantage for Russia. Instead, they wanted to rob Cherson of its Ukrainian population to destroy it economically and culturally.

Until yesterday there was no sign that the Ukrainians were even making any progress in liberating their territory. However, on Thursday, the armed forces said they had killed 43 Russian soldiers and destroyed six tanks and other equipment in the Kherson region.

Russian rebels demand: Ukraine “freeze and starve”

Russian propaganda is already outdoing itself with calls for toughness. The public in Ukraine Freeze and starve, Russian politicians demanded on state television to force Ukrainians to leave. Russia has no choice.

Putin’s war has been nothing short of brutal: For a week, the Russian military has been shelling targets across Ukraine, particularly electricity infrastructure. About 30 percent of all power plants are down, Ukrainian President Zelenskyy said, adding that electricity has failed or been rationed everywhere in the country.

Ukrainians seem to be taking the situation in stride. Former Zelensky adviser Julia Mandel received almost 30,000 likes on Twitter: “Ukrainians are joking: if the Russians cut off our electricity, there will be more Ukrainians in nine months.”