![Pinterest](https://pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=https://uknews.evprotec.com/russias-wounded-soldiers-abandoned-to-their-fate-in-kherson-as-army-flees-before-ukrainian-advance/&media=https://uknews.evprotec.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/TELEMMGLPICT000315657866_1_trans_NvBQzQNjv4BqoxtJTNN1PrxXUfsyo8VLjCSR4WFv1604xohwBqkKDTM.jpeg&description=The loss of Kherson, where billboards claimed "Russia is here forever", would be a significant defeat for Vladimir Putin. The wider area is one of four Ukrainian territories that the Russian president annexed in September. At the time, Putin signalled he would defend the regions, which also include Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk and Luhansk, with nuclear weapons. While the Kremlin has backtracked on those remarks, Kherson's residents fear they could be caught up in a brutal artillery battle between Russian and Ukrainian forces. Many have already attempted to make their escape to Crimea, the peninsula illegally annexed by Moscow in 2014, to seek shelter. "People are trying to leave for Crimea because they are scared of what could happen," one resident said. "Kherson will be hard for the Russians to lose, we're now expecting something bad to happen." They predicted reprisal attacks on either the hydroelectric dam in Nova Kakhovka or a strike on the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. The Russian retreat from Kherson is expected to take a number of days to complete, with between 20,000 and 30,000 troops needed to be withdrawn to the opposite bank of the Dnipro. General Mark Milley, America's top military commander, said: 'It won't take them a day or two. This is going to take them days and perhaps even weeks to pull those forces south of that river.' British military officials said the Russian would use artillery in an attempt to provide cover for withdrawing forces. "With limited crossing points, Russian forces will be vulnerable in crossing the Dnipro River. It is likely that the withdrawal will take place over several days with defensive positions and artillery fires covering withdrawing forces," the Ministry of Defence said in its daily intelligence update. "The loss of Kherson's west bank will likely prevent Russia from achieving its strategic aspiration of a land bridge reaching Odesa," it added. Kremlin propagandists at a loss The Kherson withdrawal left Russian propagandi){kind=link}
Kyiv announces liberation of more than a dozen towns but warns city itself may have been heavily mined by retreating Kremlin troops
Russian forces in southern Ukraine were on the brink of collapse on Thursday as Ukraine cautiously gained ground, edging closer to the port city of Kherson.
A day after Moscow’s defence minister ordered its troops to retreat from the regional capital, the fighting reached within 10 miles of city limits.
Russian soldiers were abandoning wounded comrades as they made a hasty retreat, sources on the front line told The Telegraph.
Kyiv announced the liberation of more than a dozen surrounding towns, reclaiming some 60 square miles, en route to Kherson.