OPINION: While every liberation is celebrated, Ukrainians are now focused on the southern front, where winning will mean everything.
After Kherson city, a critical Black Sea port, was captured by Russia in the first days of the war, vision of brave locals peacefully stopping Russian tanks with their hands went viral.
The city of Kherson, founded in 1788 as a fortress at the mouth of the Dnipro River, remains a strategic jewel that links Ukraine to the world.Kherson unlocks seaborne trade routes, protects Ukrainian cities Odessa, Mykolaiv and Zaporizhzhia, and opens the road to occupied Melitopol, Berdyansk and Mariupol. Whoever controls Kherson holds the keys to Putin’s Crimean “land bridge” and dictates the flow of water to the island peninsula via the North Crimean Canal.
With an exhausted Russian army in retreat, victory is in sight. For Putin, the stakes couldn’t be higher. Losing Kherson and Russia’s southern army will expose Crimea to Ukrainian bombardment and, incredibly, possible liberation. With his armies buckling, Putin is on the horns of a dilemma. He can either fall back and allow Ukraine its victory in Kherson or place his entire southern army at risk in an unlikely defence. Despite his generals begging to regroup east of the Dnipro, a stubborn Putin has gambled on digging in., likens Putin’s strategy to “sticking a finger in the dam”.
Already stretched and outsmarted by Ukraine’s multi-theatre offensive, Putin’s options are limited, especially if he refuses to consolidate. In a CNN interview, former CIA director and US military leader General David Petraeus said Putin was “out of moves” and at the mercy of the now-superior and more motivated Ukrainian forces.Even a so-called “tactical” nuclear weapon would be unlikely to shift the battlefield in Russia’s favour.
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