Russian state news agencies TASS and RIA Novosti, with reference to the Ministry of Defense, published news about “the transfer of troops to more advantageous positions east of the Dnieper” at
about 11.00 Moscow time. Typically, such formulations are used in the
event of a retreat of troops - this was the case last year during the
retreat near Kharkiv and from Kherson.
A
few minutes later, the agencies canceled the released news. “The
message published on November 13, 2023 at 10.50 with the heading “The
Dnepr group of troops will be transferred to more advantageous
positions” has been canceled,” reads, in part , on the RIA Novosti
website at the place where the news was published. TASS also released a
notice of cancellation.
The text said verbatim:
- “Having
assessed the current situation, the command of the Dnepr group decided
to transfer troops to more advantageous positions east of the Dnieper.
After the regrouping, the Dnepr will release part of the forces that
will be used during the offensive in other directions.”
The
Ministry of Defense called the sending of a message allegedly on behalf
of the Russian press center of the military department a “provocation,”
RBC reports . It is not clear who sent the message.
In
recent weeks, it has been reported that the Ukrainian military managed
to cross the Dnieper in the Kherson region in a number of places. In
particular, fighting is taking place in the village of Krynki. Analysts
claim that in recent days the Ukrainian military has managed to somewhat
expand the bridgehead.
Last
September, the Russian Ministry of Defense announced that it had
carried out an operation “to wind down and organize the transfer of the
Izyum-Balakleya group of troops” after Ukrainian troops occupied the
cities of Izyum and Balakleya in the Kharkov region during the
offensive.
On
November 11, 2022, after Russian troops abandoned Kherson, the Ministry
of Defense announced that Russian troops occupied “defensive lines and
positions prepared in advance in engineering terms” on the left bank of
the Dnieper.