BAccording to media reports, Russian troops devastated the southern Ukrainian city when they left Cherson. In addition to the television center, district heating systems and radio masts, among other things, were blown up, Ukrajinska Pravda reported on Thursday. In addition, the electricity in the city had failed completely, as had the Internet. Several bridges over the Dnipro had already been blown up in the past few days.
According to Moscow, it began withdrawing its troops on Thursday. “Units of Russian troops are moving to prepared positions on the left bank of the Dnipro River in strict accordance with the approved plan,” the Russian Defense Ministry said. Kyiv reacted with suspicion to the announcement of the troop withdrawal.
A timetable for the withdrawal of Russian soldiers from Cherson and the entire area around the city on the right bank of the Dnipro, which had been ordered the day before, was not known. According to a report by the Russian agency Tass, units of the police and emergency services should only leave the city with the last troops.
Meanwhile, the Ukrainian army reported the recapture of twelve towns on the way to Cherson in the region of the same name. The Ukrainian state agency Unian published a report with photos from villages on the outskirts of the Cherson region that had been liberated by advancing Ukrainian troops. “Destroyed houses, mines and garbage” can be seen everywhere.