But neither he nor his men believe the Russians will go quickly or quietly, and neither do they intend to let them. His comments raise the specter of a bloody storm in the coming weeks for control of a key city on the west bank of the Dnipro River, which acts as a gateway to the Crimean peninsula annexed by Russia in 2014. “They will continue to fight. They will defend their positions as long as they have the ability to do so,” said Oleh, 26, a battle-hardened general who has risen through the ranks since enlisting as a teenager 10 years ago. “It will be a tough fight.” Kirill Stremousov, deputy head of the Russian command in the Kherson region, said Thursday that he hoped Russian forces would fight. “If we leave Kherson, it will be a huge blow,” he added, in comments broadcast by Russian broadcaster RT. The contest for the only provincial capital captured by Moscow in the all-out invasion that began on February 24 may be one of the most consequential of the war so far. For Russian President Vladimir Putin, it would be another setback after a series of major battlefield losses since mid-August. By controlling the west bank of the Dnipro, military experts said, Ukrainian forces would have a springboard from which to seize a bridgehead on the east side for an advance on Crimea. Crimea is home to Russia’s Black Sea Fleet, and Kyiv has made recovery of the peninsula its avowed goal. If Kherson fell to the counterattack, experts added, it would also be a political humiliation for Putin, as Kherson is one of four partially occupied regions of Ukraine that announced it would be part of Russia “forever” with great fanfare. September 30. “It would be a huge blow, mostly politically,” said Philip Ingram, a retired senior British military intelligence officer. “And it would cost him (Putin) militarily. If the Ukrainians could get a bridgehead on the east side of the Dnipro, that would be even worse for the Russians.” The Ukrainians “will be able to blow the whistle on the Russians defending the approaches to Crimea,” said retired US General Ben Hodges, former commander of US military forces in Europe. A US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said it appeared the Russians had already begun “an organized, gradual withdrawal” from the west bank of the Dnipro.

itching FOR ATTACK

Thousands of civilians from the city and surrounding areas have been evacuated to the eastern side of Dnipro in recent weeks after Russian occupation authorities warned of the dangers of the Ukrainian advance. On Friday, Putin publicly endorsed the evacuation which Kyiv says involves the forced expulsion of civilians from Russian-held territory – a war crime – which Russia denies. The occupation authorities have also relocated administrative offices and archives to the east bank, and a western source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said most Russian commanders had also moved their bases. The US official and Ukrainian commanders said the Russians were strengthening their front lines, including deploying recently mobilized reserves, in an effort to better protect the withdrawal. Some Ukrainian soldiers believe poorly trained Russian reservists are being sent “like lambs to the slaughter” while more experienced troops dig into defensive lines further back, according to the US official. A tactical withdrawal could prove challenging for the Russians, requiring coordination, deception to conceal movements, communications discipline and intense artillery barrages to suppress the Ukrainian advance. But Ukrainian troops could also face serious obstacles that could halt the conquest of Kherson, including explosive traps and massed Russian artillery and missiles from the east bank, Hodges said. As the sides on Friday fought intermittent artillery duels, Oleh’s 100-man unit took advantage of the unusually mild weather to clean weapons and install floorboards in warehouses covered in dirt and logs that are lined with thermal insulation and equipped with portable generators and wood-burning stoves. . The unit, with six armored personnel carriers, took up its positions in September after Ukrainian forces drove Russian troops back to Kherson’s border with Mykolaiv province. Oleh said the Russians were running out of time, as January would bring ice floods on the Dnipro that could disrupt ferry operations. He was eager to strike at the enemy’s weak points to cause panic among the reserves that might turn into disorder. “If we don’t launch an attack, they will continue to sit there,” he said. “Mobilizers are good for us because they cause panic. Panic is contagious like a disease. It spreads.” Additional reporting by Phil Stewart and Steve Holland in Washington. Editing by Mike Collett-White and Daniel Wallis Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.