MELITOPOL, November 10. /TASS/. The Ukrainian Armed Forces will focus on the Zaporozhye Region following Russia’s withdrawal from the right bank of the Dnieper River, Chairman of the We Stand With Russia movement Vladimir Rogov told TASS on Thursday.
"The Zaporozhye direction is becoming a priority. Our enemy is sending forces there and it will also redeploy troops that will become available in the Kherson area. Why here? One of the goals is to seize the nuclear power plant," he said.
According to Rogov, Ukrainian troops stationed in the Kiev-controlled part of the Zaporozhye Region have already received dozens of armored boats, while over 700 Special Operations Forces members have been trained to seize a major technological facility on the banks of the Dnieper River.
"Our task is to prepare as much as possible for their offensive and breakthrough attempts, because we do not have much time," Rogov added.
The politician also praised the activities of artillery units, aircraft and motorized infantry "in the areas of Gulyaipole, Novodanilovka and Malye Shcherbaki and attacks on targets in the suburbs of the city of Zaporozhye."
On November 9, Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu ordered that Russian troops be pulled from the right bank of the Dnieper River back to the left bank based on a suggestion by Army General Sergey Surovikin, chief of the Russian military operation in Ukraine. Surovikin pointed out that Russian troops were successfully thwarting Ukrainian attacks and one of the reasons for withdrawing was the risk that if areas downstream from the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant got flooded, the Russian forces would be isolated. According to him, all civilians who wanted to leave the area - over 115,000 people - have been relocated from the right bank.