The Ukrainian Armed Forces said Thursday that over the past day they have regained control of twelve localities in the Kherson region (south), after Russia announced a withdrawal in the area on Wednesday, amid Kiev’s military advances over the past few weeks.
Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces Valeri Zaluzhni said in a message on his Telegram account that since November 1 Ukrainian troops have recaptured 41 settlements, including twelve over the past 24 hours in the direction of Ptropavlivka and Novoraisk and in the direction of Pervomaiske and Kherson.
Thus, he stressed that the Ukrainian forces have advanced seven kilometers in each of the directions, «liberating» territories over 200 square kilometers. «We continue our offensive operation according to our plan,» he stressed, before saying that Kiev «cannot confirm or deny the information about the withdrawal of Russian occupation troops from Kherson.»
«Behind every so-called ‘goodwill gesture’ on the part of the enemy there are colossal efforts of our troops. Just as the enemy withdrew from Kiev and Kharkov, leaving an island in Zmini, the probable departure from Kherson is a result of our active actions,» Zaluzhni explained.
In this regard, he emphasized that «in the direction of Kherson, the Ukrainian Defense Forces destroyed logistic routes and support systems and disrupted the control system of the enemy troops.» «Therefore, the enemy had no choice but to flee,» he concluded.
During the day, Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar outlined that «the Russians cannot be trusted.» «We have convinced ourselves of this many times. The art of war includes the art of deceiving the enemy,» she said, while stressing that Kiev «does not trust Russia’s words.»
«From our side the position has been repeatedly expressed. Negotiations are possible after the withdrawal of troops from the temporarily occupied territory in Ukraine. This implies leaving these territories and then discussions. There will be a lot to discuss after liberation,» Maliar concluded, Ukrinform Ukrainian news agency reported.
For his part, the ‘number two’ of the Operations Department of the General Staff of the Ukrainian Army, Oleksiy Gromov, said that Russia did not contact Ukraine to «create a ‘green corridor'» for the withdrawal of its troops in Kherson, one of the regions annexed by Moscow in September together with Donetsk, Lugansk and Zaporiyia.
