Kyiv: Russian troops are caught between Ukrainian Forces and Dnieper river
Russians are now caught between the Ukraine Forces and the right bank of the Dnieper, said the head of the joint press center of the Defense Forces of the Operational Command South Natalia Gumenyuk.
"The fire control that we keep over the crossings and transport arteries across the Dnieper makes them understand that they are caught between the [Ukrainian] defense forces and the right bank. These are [Russian] units that are in this part of the Kherson region. Therefore, they have been offered a way out under the international humanitarian law or they can go back home, but we need to understand how," she said.
According to Gumenyuk, the Russians do not see a possibility to retreat to Russia.
"There is information that they are really demoralized, they do not see the purpose of them being there. They see what happened in the East, and this demoralizes them very much, because they understand that the same course of events is possible. They see that it is closer to move forward, having laid down their arms, and be used as part of a prisoner exchange fund, than to move to the border, because the Kherson region is far from the border with Russia, in contrast to the Kharkiv region. And on the way back they have a significant obstacle - the Dnieper, which is now impassable," Gumenyuk explained.
She added that there are cases when the Russian military commanders reach out to the Ukrainian Armed Forces in order to agree on the conditions for the laying down their weapons.
"But one should understand, they are subject to thorough verification. Because, as we said, the enemy is insidious. There can be all sorts of provocations, so we check many layers of their intent," Gumenyuk added.