If such a withdrawal by Russia is
verified, approximately 20,000 Russian troops will be left stranded from their
superiors and from key supply lines due to the river which is half a mile wide.
The Dnipro river has been key to the conflict with Ukrainian forces
destroying its main bridges and therefore Russian supply lines in the region of
occupied Kherson.
Vitaly Kim, the Governor of
the Mykolayiv district in southern Ukraine near the Black Sea revealed that the
entire Russian command staff were withdrawing from the west bank of the river.
The Governor posted a message
on the social media app Telegram, in which he used a common derogatory word to
describe Russian soldiers.
Vitaly Kim said: “I feel just
a bit sorry – but not much – for the stupid orcs who had been abandoned on the
right bank of the Dnipro.
“All of the commanders are
moving to the other side.”
Once again, such poor military
tactics from the Russian army are proving to be a point of embarrassment for
Putin who believed he would conquer the main cities of Ukraine in a matter of days.
Early in the invasion of
Ukraine which began at the end of February, Putin’s troops attempted to cut off
Ukraine from the Black Sea by moving from the annexed Crimea area to then take
land in separatist areas of Eastern Ukraine.
The troops then hoped that a
move to the west would see Russia connect with pro-Russian separatists in
Moldova, therefore creating a land bridge cutting off Ukraine.
While Russian focus changed to
occupying Kherson, they abandoned advances in Mykolaiv which meant that the
small Russian-controlled area was vulnerable and in between the frontlines of
the Dnipro River in the east and the Black Sea towards the south.
With Russian troops distracted
in Kherson, Ukrainian troops have targeted Russian supply lines in which the
bridges crossing the river were key as all supplies must cross them.
The UK Ministry of Defence
said on Saturday that the two main bridges for vehicles to the vulnerable
Russian-controlled area “are now probably out of use for the purposes of substantial
military resupply”.
