RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE
Russian forces have completed the their redeployment to the left bank of the River Dnieper in Kherson Region, the Defense Ministry has said. The maneuver was completed early Friday morning, according to a statement.
The ministry denied reports that military hardware was abandoned during the process, or that Moscow suffered casualties during the withdrawal
“Russian units have taken the prepared defensive lines and positions,” the ministry said. “No loss of personnel, weapons, vehicles, or materiel of the Russian forces was allowed. All civilians who wished to leave the right bank of Kherson Region were provided with assistance.”
The statement claimed that Ukrainian troops tried to disrupt the movement of civilians across the river with artillery fire, but failed to do so. Russia intercepted 28 rockets fired by HIMARS launchers and diverted five others through electronic countermeasures, it said.
Russian artillery and aircraft deterred Ukrainian units from closing the gap with the river, the military added. They were stopped at least 30km from the river crossings, according to the statement.
Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu ordered the troops to move across the river on Wednesday morning. He said the step was taken to avoid unnecessary deaths of the soldiers and to take up a stronger defensive position.
The decision, which was described as “difficult” by military officials, left the provincial capital, Kherson, exposed to capture by Kiev’s forces. The regional authorities have urged residents of the city for weeks to leave and go to safe places to the east.
Russia incorporated Kherson Region last month, after the people voted in a referendum to break away from Ukraine and join Russia. Kiev called the vote a “sham” and pledged to keep fighting until all land that it considers to be rightfully Ukrainian is taken.
*The Russian public’s level of confidence in President Vladimir Putin fell by 0.6 percentage points to 79.5% in the past week, according to a poll published by the All-Russia Public Opinion Research Center on Friday.
"When asked if they trusted Putin, 79.5% of the poll’s participants said yes (a 0.6 percentage point drop from the week before). The share of people who approved of the way the president is handling his job was 75.8% (0.7 percentage points lower than last week)," the pollster said.
A total of 50.6% of those polled said they approved of the Russian government’s work (a 0.3 percentage point increase) and 52.8% approve of Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin’s work (a 0.3 percentage point drop). As many as 62.3% of respondents said they trusted Mishustin (a 1.1 percentage point decline from the week before).
As for the leaders of the parliamentary parties, 33.5% of those surveyed trust leader of the Russian Communist Party Gennady Zyuganov (a 0.5 percentage point rise from the previous week), 33.2% trust leader of the A Just Russia - For Truth party Sergey Mironov (a 4.6 percentage point increase), seven percent said they trusted Chairman of the New People party Alexey Nechayev (1.4 percentage points lower than last week) and 15% of the poll’s participants trust leader of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDPR) Leonid Slutsky (a 0.8 percentage point drop).
The level of popular support for the United Russia party was 40.4% (a 0.1 percentage point rise from the week before). The level increased by 0.4 percentage points to 10.3% for the Russian Communist Party and rose by 0.5 percentage points to 4.7% for the New People party. The Russian Liberal Democratic Party saw a 0.8 percentage point decline to 8.1%, while popular support for the A Just Russia - For Truth party dropped by 0.7 percentage points to 5.4%.
The poll involving 1,600 adult respondents was conducted between October 31 and November 6.
WESTERN PERSPECTIVE
Jubilant residents welcomed Ukrainian troops arriving in the centre of the strategic city of Kherson after Russia abandoned the only regional capital it had captured since its invasion began in February.
* Ukrainian President Zelenskiy hailed 'a historic day' in getting back Kherson; special units of the military were already inside with defending troops on the outskirts, he said.
KHERSON RETREAT
* Russia's defence ministry said it had withdrawn more than 30,000 soldiers across the Dnipro River in its retreat.
* Russia said it had completed the pullout across the Dnipro without losing a single soldier, but Ukrainians painted a picture of a chaotic retreat, with Russian troops ditching their uniforms or drowning trying to escape.
* The Kremlin said Russia's withdrawal from Kherson's capital would not changethe region's status as annexed by Russia.
* Significant new damage to the major Nova Kakhovka dam in southern Ukraine can be seen following Russia's withdrawal from nearby Kherson city, U.S. satellite imagery company Maxar said.
OTHER UKRAINE NEWS
* Six people were killed in a Russian missile attack on an apartment building in the southern Ukrainian city of Mykolaiv,, the mayor said.
* Chancellor Scholz said Germany's priority in its aid to Ukraine should be to help it defend itself from Russian air raids on its cities and to help it rebuild its infrastructure.
* Ukraine says it is building a reinforced concrete wall and other fortifications on its border with Belarus, a Kremlin ally that Moscow used as a staging ground for its Feb. 24 invasion.
* The U.N. nuclear watchdog says an investigation of a research plant in the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv found it was badly damaged, but there were no signs of a radiological release or diversion of nuclear material.
* Senior United Nations officials met with a Russian delegation in Geneva to discuss Moscow's grievances about the Black Sea grains export initiative and address the need for unimpeded food and fertilizer exports, a U.N. spokesperson said.
RT/TASS/Reuters
