Moscow orders withdrawal of Russian troops from occupied Ukrainian city of Kherson

Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu on Wednesday ordered Russian troops to withdraw from the occupied Ukrainian city of Kherson and take up defensive positions on the opposite bank of the Dnipro river.

The withdrawal marks one of the most significant Russian retreats and a potential turning point in the war, which is now nearing the end of its ninth month.

General Sergei Surovikin reported to Shoigu in televised comments that it was no longer possible to keep Kherson supplied following weeks of Ukrainian advances toward the city. In the lead up to the withdrawal, Russia has relocated more than 100,000 of its residents to the opposite side of the river.

Kherson is the main city in one of four Ukrainian regions that Russian President Vladimir Putin proclaimed in September that he was incorporating into Russia and which the Kremlin said had been placed under Moscow’s “nuclear umbrella.”