Ukraine, Kherson is free: is it the turning point for peace?

The colors of Ukraine, yellow and blue, are back in Kherson. The flags hanging from the buildings destroyed by the bombing, the signs with the writing are back “Kherson is free”, the horns of cars celebrating the return of Ukrainian soldiers to Kherson. Just write Kherson on any social media to find yourself live along the streets of Kherson together with the Ukrainians who are moved and celebrate the arrival of the Ukrainian army. It also happens in Kiev, where since yesterday evening, in Maidan Square, the main one of the city, people have gathered to celebrate the liberation of Kherson. The southern city had been among the first to be occupied at the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The announcement of the retreat had arrived only three days ago, on November 10, directly on Russian public TV with the words of the Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu. While the Ukrainian leaders were wondering if it was pure strategy or a real announcement, the retreat began and in just two days the Russian soldiers left Kherson. As Ukrainian Prime Minister Zelensky announced on his social channels, it is a “historic day”, Kherson was in fact the largest city conquered by the Russians in the first weeks of the invasion as well as the capital of the region of the same name. Among those that Putin had defined “forever Russian”, proclaiming their annexation in September.

The Russian press called the retreat a “maneuver to protect the lives of soldiers and civilians” and on Friday the Russian Defense Ministry announced the conclusion “Of the repositioning operation”, with “no soldiers or equipment” left behind. In the same hours, some testimonies of Russian soldiers appeared on social media who would tell of comrades who would have been advised to dress in civilian clothes and to cross the Dnipro river independently. According to other testimonies (all to be verified) some Russian soldiers drowned in the river and others wounded were abandoned along the banks of the Dnipro.

In fact, the liberation of Kherson opens «To the possibility of diplomatic solutions. We must seize the opportunity ». To say it is US Chief of Staff Mark Milley on two occasions: a conference at the Economic Club in New York and an interview with the CNBC TV network. «The Ukrainian armed forces have fought to the point of blocking the Russians and pinning them into a stalemate. We do not know what will happen in the future, but now there are possibilities for diplomatic solutions. We must seize the opportunity ». According to the US Chief of Staff, more than 100,000 Russian soldiers have been killed or wounded since the invasion began on 24 February. The months of winter frost, as Milley explained probably also on the basis of satellite images that would show the Russians engaged in digging trenches for the winter, could be those of stalemate positions but of continuous increase in the number of victims of the conflict. A World War I scenario that the American Chief of Staff wants to avoid opening up to a political and non-military solution to the conflict.

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