Putin’s Kherson Retreat Signals Russia May Be Learning From Slips: Experts

© Andrii Dubchak/Donbas Frontliner via Zaborona/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images Ukrainian soldiers inspect a destroyed tank which was left by Russian troops in the liberated town on November 10, 2022 in Snihurivka, Ukraine. Russia recently retreated from Kherson, but the nation seemed to learn from its past mistakes and soldiers took the bulk of their equipment with them.

Russia is evolving its military strategy, according to several experts.

Russia wrapped up its withdrawal from Kherson on Friday, executed under Russian General Sergey Surovikin, who first outlined plans to remove troops from the area shortly after he became head of Russia’s forces in Ukraine in October.

The Kyiv Independent interviewed Michael Kofman, a Russia Studies Program military analyst with the Center for Naval Analysis (CNA). Kofman said although Russia’s military strategy of leaving Kherson was “bewildering,” Russia may be learning from its mistakes.

In September, Russian soldiers abandoned arsenals of ammunition and war vehicles while fleeing Izyum in Ukraine’s southern Kharkiv region after Ukrainian troops conducted a counteroffensive that took Russian soldiers by surprise.

“Defeat is never good for morale, but the situation in Kherson was different from Izyum and Lyman,” Kofman said. “It was an organized retreat, not a rout as we saw in Izyum, with high casualties, and stores of equipment abandoned. Russia appears to have withdrawn the bulk of their remaining forces and equipment.”

Kofman said Russia’s execution of the Kherson retreat—which panned out over a period of weeks—shows the Russian military is evolving. There are several key differences in the Kherson withdrawal that could emphasize Russia’s shift in military strategy.

Center for Strategic and International Studies senior adviser and retired Marine colonel Mark Cancian told Newsweek that troops in Kherson had better discipline than those in Izyum, which were defending a quieter area that didn’t see as much action.

Troops also were under better leadership. Surovikin’s retreat finished last week when Ukrainian forces reentered the regional capital and raised the Ukrainian flag. On the eastern side of the Dnipro River, Russian forces could redistribute their troops to better defend territory rather than risk collapse with the highly exposed position on the west side of the river in Kherson.

Although the Kherson retreat dealt a political blow to Russian President Vladimir Putin—Kherson was the only regional capital Russia held throughout the war—militarily, the retreat was a smart choice that was executed well, Cancian said.

“The evidence of the success is that few Russians were taken captive and relativity little equipment was lost,” Cancian said, a stark contrast to the hasty exit Russians made from Izyum in September.

“This success occurred in an extremely difficult military position where the Russians had to cross a large river when the bridges and ferries were under constant attack,” Cancian added.

Ukrainian footage showed videos of missiles and artillery strikes reportedly chasing Russian troops out of Kherson, but even with the retreat, Russia lost few soldiers. Friday’s Russian casualties totaled 710, although many of them were reportedly suffered in Bakhmut, a city in eastern Ukraine under heavy fire from Russian forces.

Ukraine Map Shows Russia’s Retreat in Kherson

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