Moscow troops withdrew from a key position in the partially occupied southern Kherson region, state news agencies cited the Kremlin as saying on Monday, before retracting and apologizing.
The Russian Defense Ministry was quoted on Monday by Russian state news agencies Tass and RIA Novosti as saying that the command of the Dnieper Group of Forces had decided to transfer troops to more advantageous positions east of the left bank of Kherson occupied by Russia. Oblast.
Pierre Crom//Getty Images
After the regrouping, the military group “will release part of the forces which will be used for an offensive in other directions”, the ministry said.
Tass then published the following message on its Telegram channel: “The news that “the command of the Dnepr group decided to regroup its troops to more advantageous positions east of the Dnieper” is RETIRED because (it was) published by mistake. We apologize to our subscribers and readers. »
The Russian Defense Ministry told Russian media outlet RBC that the “false message” of “regrouping” troops in the region was “a provocation.”
News week contacted the Russian Defense Ministry for comment via email.
This comes days after Ukrainian forces launched a missile attack on the headquarters of a Russian military group.
On November 1, a Ukrainian strike against the headquarters belonging to the Dnipro group of forces was reported by several sources, including the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), a think tank based in the United States, at the beginning of the month. British intelligence officials estimated in April that the Russian group was likely deployed to defend Ukraine’s Kherson region, which it partially occupies.
Russian Telegram channel VChK-OGPU, which claims to have inside information on Russian security forces, and Public Reserve Stugna, an organization created to support the Ukrainian special forces Stugna battalion, said three Russian officers were killed in the attack the military group’s base using US Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS).
The three officers reportedly killed were Colonel Vadim Dobriakov, deputy head of the command center of the Airborne Forces Command; Colonel Alexei Koblov, head of the operational department of the Airborne Forces General Staff; and Colonel Alexander Galkin, deputy head of the command center of the Airborne Forces Command.
The three colonels were killed “when the group’s command post (Dnipro)… was attacked,” the VChK-OGPU media outlet said at the time, adding that the strike “was carried out by an ATACMS missile.”
Do you have a tip on a world news story that News week should it cover? Do you have a question about the Russo-Ukrainian War? Let us know via [email protected].
Updated 11/13/23, 4:20 a.m. ET: This article has been updated with additional information and a new title.
Uncommon knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.