Russia announced Wednesday that it was withdrawing forces from Kherson, a key city in southern Ukraine, in what could turn out to be the most humiliating setback in President Vladimir Putin’s war.

Ukrainian officials remained cautious about the Russian forces’ intentions with some suggesting on social media that it was a trick but in televised comments, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said he was ordering the withdrawal of troops across the Dnieper River.

Gen. Sergei Surovikin, the overall commander of Russian forces in Ukraine, proposed taking up defensive lines on the eastern bank of the river.

The announcement of the withdrawal followed weeks of Ukrainian advances toward the city and a race by Russia to relocate more than 100,000 of its residents.

Ukrainian authorities have not confirmed the move and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has suggested that the Russians were laying a trap pullout from Kherson in order to lure Ukrainian forces into battle.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/russia-ukraine-war-kherson-retreat-kirill-stremousov-rcna56362