The Ukrainian authorities seemed skeptical after Russia announced the withdrawal of its forces from Kherson, noting that it expected the fight to continue to control this major city, which Moscow seized at the beginning of its offensive.
Nine months after the start of the invasion, the Chief of Staff of the US Army, General Mark Milley, announced Wednesday that more than one hundred thousand Russian soldiers were killed or wounded, indicating that the losses in the ranks of the Ukrainian forces may be similar.
The senior US military official expressed his hope for talks to end the war, because military victory is not possible for either Russia or Ukraine, he said.
"There must be a mutual recognition that a military victory is not likely to be achieved, strictly speaking, by military means, so other means must be resorted to," he added.
Kherson's withdrawal constitutes a major setback for Moscow, which was forced to abandon the Kharkiv region (northeast) in September.
These developments came as Russian President Vladimir Putin on September 21 ordered the mobilization of about 300,000 reservists to reinforce the Russian lines.
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu ordered "to move forward with the withdrawal of forces", during a meeting with the commander of Russian operations in Ukraine, General Sergei Sorovikin, who called before that to take this decision, stressing at the same time that "it is not an easy thing at all."
US President Joe Biden said Wednesday that "this is evidence that they are facing real problems (...) Russia and the Russian army."
The withdrawal from Kherson is more important because the city, which had a population of 280,000 people before the conflict, is the only capital of the region occupied by Russian forces at the beginning of their attack on Ukraine.
It is also one of the four regions of Ukraine that Putin demanded to be annexed to Moscow six weeks ago. The Russian president celebrated the annexations during a concert in Red Square under banners declaring that Russia would be there "forever."

- Kyiv doubts -

But Kyiv cautiously received the announcement of the Russian withdrawal, noting that it suspected that Moscow wanted to draw its forces into a difficult urban battle in Kherson.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Wednesday evening that his country was looking "with great caution" at the announcement of the Russian withdrawal. "The enemy does not give us gifts and does not show a 'goodwill gesture', we must win everything," he added in his daily message to the Ukrainians.
"Therefore, we must be very careful, without emotion and without unnecessary risk, in order to liberate all our lands with minimal losses," he added.
"We do not see any indication that Russia will leave Kherson without a fight," Ukrainian presidential adviser Mikhailo Podolyak said earlier, stressing that "some Russian (forces) are still in the city."
"They are simply trying to get out of a difficult situation," Natalia Gominiuk, a spokeswoman for the Ukrainian army's Southern Command, told AFP. "They deliberately announced that they were crossing from the left bank (of the Dnipro River) did not surprise anyone," she added.
"But we know that we still have to fight," she said, stressing that the Kherson battle is not over.
As for the Deputy Defense Minister of Ukraine, Hana Maliar, said that "it is impossible to believe the words of the Russians. With them you must always be ready for anything."
"I think they are plotting something (...) a trap. I don't think they will give up," Kyiv resident Sergei Vilonchuk told AFP.
In practice, Shoigu ordered the Russian fighters to withdraw from the western bank of the Dnipro River where Kherson was located to create a line of defense on the eastern bank of this river which represented a natural obstacle.
The Kremlin postponed this humiliating withdrawal for as long as possible, but the situation became more difficult with the Ukrainian army targeting Russian supply lines with modern weapons received from the West.
Kherson is strategic because its territory borders Ukraine's Crimea peninsula, which Moscow annexed in 2014.
On Wednesday, General Sorovikin justified the withdrawal by wanting to protect the lives of Russian soldiers. Putin has not commented on this withdrawal, but Kremlin confidants such as founder of the Wagner paramilitary group Yevgeny Prigozhin and Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov defended the measure.

- displaced -

Since the annexation was announced at the end of September, Moscow considers Kherson part of its national territory. However, Putin warned that Russia will defend "by all means" what it considers its territory, and senior Russian officials have openly raised the possibility of resorting to nuclear weapons.
And General Sorovikin announced Wednesday that the occupation authorities had evacuated in recent weeks 115 thousand people from the right bank to the left bank of the Dnipro River.
But Ukraine condemned what it described as the displacement of the population.
On Thursday, Amnesty International accused Russia of committing what could be considered "crimes against humanity" by forcibly transferring Ukrainian civilians to its territory or to areas under the control of pro-Russian separatists from areas occupied by its forces in Ukraine.
"The separation of children from their families (...) is in violation of international humanitarian law," the NGO said.
As the Russian offensive soon entered its ninth month, the West continued to reassert its military, logistical, and financial support for Kyiv.
On Wednesday, the European Commission proposed to the 27 member states of the European Union to give Ukraine 18 billion euros in aid for the year 2023, in the form of loans.