In an interview with Reuters in Kyiv, Oleksii Reznikov said Russia had 40,000 troops in Kherson region (twice the number of other estimates) and that it still had forces in and around the city and on the west bank of the Dnipro despite announcing their retreat.
“It’s not that easy to withdraw these troops from Kherson in one day or two days. As a minimum, [it will take] one week,” he said, adding it was difficult to predict Russia’s actions and that Kyiv was focused on its own plan.
Reznikov said such an exit would free forces from both sides to fight elsewhere and suggested Russia could beef up its units in the neighbouring region of Zaporizhzhia that had also been partially occupied for months.
“The winter will slow down every activity on the battlefield for all sides … It’s beneficial for all sides. You will have a rest,” he said.
He predicted Ukraine would come out of the lull strong, reinforced by thousands of soldiers being trained in Britain. “We will use this time with a maximum result for our armed forces, for regrouping, for refreshing and for rotation and we will prepare them well.”
