War in Ukraine: NATO wary of Russian withdrawal from Kherson

North Atlantic Treaty Organization Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg was cautious the withdrawal of Russian troops from the Ukrainian city of Kherson, during his official visit to Rome yesterday Thursday. “We have recorded the Russian announcement of withdrawal from Kherson,” Mr Stoltenberg said. “We will have to see how the situation develops on the ground in the coming days,” he added, flanked by Giorgia Meloni, the head of Italy’s new far-right coalition government.

The head of NATO emphasized that Russia continues to struggle in the war in Ukraine, which began on February 24. “What is clear is that Russia is under great pressure and if (its forces) leave Kherson, it will be another victory for Ukraine,” assured the Secretary General.

The president of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky said last night that Ukrainian troops had recaptured 40 locations around Kherson as Russia’s army withdrew, a day after Moscow announced that its units deployed in Kherson would leave the key city.

Meanwhile, a Japanese man fighting alongside Ukrainian troops against Russia was killed this week, the government in Tokyo said, the first Japanese casualty of the war.

The young man – around 20 years old – was killed on Wednesday during a battle, Japanese government spokesman Hirokazu Matsuno told the press.

A spokesman for the Japanese Foreign Ministry clarified to AFP that this is the first Japanese national known to have died in Ukraine “since the beginning of (Russia’s) invasion in February.”

Japanese diplomats are in the process of “contacting the family” to offer “necessary assistance”, Mr Matsuno said.

Japanese authorities did not provide any other details.

According to a cable from the Jiji news agency, he was a member of a unit participating in the Ukrainian counter-offensive on the eastern front.

For months, the Japanese government has been calling on its citizens to leave Ukraine. It has increased its directive against travel to the country to the maximum level.

In February, Zelensky invited volunteers from all over the world to go and join the “international legion”, to participate in the operations against the Russian invasion.

About 20,000 foreign volunteers, mainly from European states, responded in March to Kiev’s call, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba told the American television network CNN at the time.

Moscow, which describes the foreigners involved in the hostilities as “mercenaries”, estimated in June that their number was around 7,000 and claimed that 2,000 of them had been killed since hostilities began. Many foreign fighters are also prisoners of war.

Last week, authorities in Taipei announced that a 25-year-old Taiwanese national who fought in the war in Ukraine, also alongside Ukrainian forces, had been killed in action. It was the first known Taiwanese death in the conflict.