UKRAINE: THE SITUATION 266 - NOVEMBER 13, 2022

Ukraine has achieved a significant victory in the campaign to liberate the western region of Kherson, culminating in the withdrawal of Russian troops completed on November 11. Russian President Vladimir Putin was determined to hold onto this crucial area, possession of which would have allowed him to continue his invasion of the unoccupied Ukraine from positions on the western bank of the Dnipro River. This consideration was likely more important in Putin's calculations than the symbolic value of the only regional capital that his forces had occupied since February 24, 2022. (Russia had already taken the cities of Luhansk and Donetsk during its invasion in 2014-2015.)

Putin had deployed extensive Russian forces to defend West Kherson, including many of the remaining elite airborne units available to the Russian military. He also deployed reinforcements from the partial mobilization of reservists ordered by him on September 21. These troops entrenched themselves and fought hard to hold their position, sustaining many losses. Ukraine's success despite this Russian determination and the deployment of scarce elite units is in many ways even more impressive than the victory in the Kharkiv region in mid-September.

The full Russian Offensive Update 266 is available directly from UNDERSTANDING WAR.

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