Russia has lost control of Kherson, the only major Ukrainian city that Putin’s troops have captured. This was stated by a senior Pentagon official, quoted by the New York Times.
Ukrainian troops are currently fighting fierce battles in Kherson, pushing back Russian invaders there, again turning a strategically important port city into a “disputed territory,” the source said.
Russian forces no longer have full control of Kherson, the first major Ukrainian city that President Vladimir Putin’s forces managed to capture as part of his invasion, a senior Pentagon official said on Friday. https://t.co/YDzEQchZnQ
— The New York Times (@nytimes) March 25, 2022
This contradicts a statement made today by the Chief of the Main Operations Department of the Russian General Staff, Colonel-General Sergei Rudsky, who said that the Kherson region was “under full control.”
The return of Kherson would deal a huge blow to Putin’s military efforts, complicating Russia’s plans to seize Ukraine’s Black Sea coast and the southern port of Odessa. The loss of Kherson will also threaten Russian troops fighting in neighboring Mykolayiv, a Pentagon spokesman said.
Another sign of the stalemate in which Moscow’s troops find themselves is that they have taken up “defensive positions” near the capital, Kyiv, and show no signs that they can move.