The Kremlin said Friday that it does not consider the decision to withdraw troops in the Ukrainian region of Kherson as humiliating and insisted that «it is Russian», ruling out any change to its status since Moscow’s decision to annex it along with Donetsk, Luhansk and Zaporiyia, also partially occupied.
Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov responded with a terse «no» to a question on whether the situation is «a humiliation» for Russia, before declining to comment on the Defense Ministry’s decision on the situation in Kherson, Russian news agency Interfax reported.
I have nothing to add and nothing to say on this matter,» he said, while stressing that the region «is part of the Russian Federation.» «Its status is legally defined and fixed. There are no changes and there can be no changes,» he said about the September annexation decision, condemned at the international level.
Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelensky said Thursday that Russia’s announcement of a withdrawal could be a strategic decision to regroup its forces. «They are ready to defend this region and they are not ready to leave the city,» he said in an interview with U.S. television network CNN.
Shortly before, the Armed Forces of Ukraine had announced the seizure of control of twelve localities around the city of Kherson following the Russian announcement, before stressing that Kiev «cannot confirm or deny the information about the withdrawal of Russian occupation troops from Kherson.»
