For the President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin, the city of

is the biggest victory since the beginning of the aggression against Ukraine, so he will throw all his forces at the defense of the city.

The Washington Post writes about it.

The publication reminds that an assault on the city of Kherson — the only regional capital that Russia managed to capture since the beginning of the invasion on February 24 — may be inevitable.

The Ukrainian side hints at the liberation of the region in the near future.

However, Russia has shown no signs that it is ready to give up the city or the Kherson region in general, which is of immense strategic and political importance to the Kremlin.

Russia temporarily strengthened its forces near Kherson to cover the retreat to the eastern bank of the Dnipro River, and also ordered the evacuation of civilians from the occupied areas on the western bank.

Last week, the Ukrainian armed forces announced that Russia had deployed an additional 1,000 troops to the area around the city of Kherson, which had a pre-war population of approximately 300,000.

But on Thursday, contradictory data about the actions of the Russian Federation arrived.

Videos have appeared on social networks showing that some Russian checkpoints have been abandoned by Russian soldiers, and the Russian flag is no longer flying on the regional administration building.

Western officials said Russian troops appeared ready to retreat to the east bank of the Dnipro River.

But a senior Ukrainian official told local media that the lowered flag could be a ploy to lure the armed forces into the city, where they could be attacked by Russian soldiers disguised as civilians.

Gauleiter Kyrylo Stremousov also stated that "hard battles are taking place on the front line, but the situation remains under control."

"Any decision to retreat is most likely related to the Russians making long-term strategic decisions about where it is best to defend in order to be effective, maintain their own ammunition reserves, maintain their troop numbers and prepare for winter," the publication writes.

Efforts to liberate cities in the Kherson region have slowed down even more in recent days due to weather conditions.

And Russian defenses don't seem to be collapsing, as they did when Ukrainian troops marched through Kharkiv in September.

Kherson Oblast forms the last major component of the "land bridge" from mainland Russia to Crimea that Putin has sought since Moscow invaded and illegally annexed the peninsula in 2014. 

Counteroffensive in Kherson Oblast

Servicemen of the Armed Forces of Ukraine are liberating Kherson Oblast step by step.

Our defenders have already de-occupied more 

 Deputy Minister of Defense Hanna Malyar explained why the advancement of the Armed Forces in the Kherson region 

At the same time, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy explained that Russian troops, despite the statement of the RF command, 

 all the most combat-capable occupation units remain in place.

On October 30, the General Staff of the Armed Forces reported that the 

and forcing Ukrainians to leave the cities.

Read also:

• Putin is waiting for winter to plan a new phase of the war against Ukraine — ISW

• The Ukrainian Armed Forces can advance in Donbas and liberate Kherson by December - The New York Times 

• The Russian tricolor has disappeared from the building of the Kherson Regional State Administration