Russia’s military has been ordered to pull out of the Ukrainian city of Kherson, the only regional capital it captured since the invasion began in February. Russia’s commander in Ukraine, Gen. Sergei Surovikin, said it was no longer possible to keep supplying the city. The withdrawal means Russian forces will pull out entirely from the western bank of the River Dnipro. It is also a significant blow as Russia faces a Ukrainian counter-offensive. “In these circumstances, the most sensible option is to organize the defense along a barrier line along the river Dnipro,” Gen. Surovikin told a meeting of senior military leaders. The announcement came shortly after Russian media said the deputy leader of Kherson, Kirill Stremousov, had been killed in a car crash. Seen as one of the main cheerleaders of the occupation of Kherson, he had warned only six days ago that it was “most likely” that Russian forces would have to cross to the eastern bank. Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu on Wednesday ordered Russian troops to withdraw from the west bank of the Dnipro River in the face of Ukrainian attacks near the southern city of Kherson. The announcement marked one of Russia’s most significant retreats and a potential turning point in the war, now nearing the end of its ninth month. Shoigu said on television that he would “proceed with the withdrawal of the soldiers” after a proposal by the commander of Russian operations in Ukraine, Gen. Surovikin. The news followed weeks of Ukrainian advances towards the city and a race by Russia to relocate more than 100,000 of its residents. “We will save the lives of our soldiers and fighting capacity of our units. Keeping them on the right (western) bank is futile. Some of them can be used on other fronts,” Gen. Surovikin said. The announcement had been anticipated by Russia’s influential war bloggers, who described it as a bitter blow. “Apparently we will leave the city, no matter how painful it is to write about it now,” said the War Gonzo blog, which has more than 1.3 million subscribers on Telegram. “In simple terms, Kherson can’t be held with bare hands,” it said. “Yes, this is a black page in the history of the Russian army. Of the Russian state. A tragic page.” On Tuesday night, a Ukrainian military statement accused Russian troops of continuing to loot and destroy infrastructure in Kherson. — BBC/Euronews