Editorial: The retreat from Kherson shows Russia is losing face

The irony of the Russian retreat from Kherson is that it’s the best decision Vladimir Putin’s generals have made since they launched their ‘special military operation’ in February.Remarkably, the humiliation was broadcast on state television (not that there are any independent news broadcasters), with bullet-headed generals telling an unhappy defence minister it’s all for the best. Tellingly, Mr Putin had a prior engagement. It was too much to expect him to have to approve publicly the abandonment of a city he had declared would be Russian for ever.Rightly, the army judged that Kherson was indefensible, and that it threatened a considerable loss of men and materiel if the Russians tried to perform some sort of heroic last stand. The Russian military cannot afford further losses on that scale, and for once, common sense prevailed over stubbornness. The army has lost face, and the Ukrainians will obviously be delighted to liberate the regional capital. But moving the line of defence back to the eastern bank of the Dnipro River will make life more difficult for the Ukrainian military.