The U.S. intelligence: Russia delayed the retreat from Kherson until the midterm elections to Congress, for not to add political success to Biden

American intelligence has data that the Russians deliberately pulled back from the right bank of the Kherson region and Kherson before the midterm elections to the U.S. Congress. They did not want to give the Biden administration additional political success before the vote.

This is reported by CNN with reference to intelligence sources.

They note that Russian high-ranking officials discussed the midterm elections in the United States as one of the factors when making the decision to withdraw from the right bank of the Kherson region.

At the same time, analysts emphasize that the elections were far from the only reason for the retreat of the Russians. Their units had been preparing to defect for weeks, leaving American officials wondering when exactly they would officially admit it.

While the intelligence is not a formal assessment of Russiaʼs intentions, it is a sign that the Russian Federation remains interested in influencing the political situation in the United States, although the sources said that Russia probably miscalculated the impact of such a statement for elections. Before the election, Russian agents used various media platforms to smear Democratic candidates in some states.

At the same time, representatives of the Congress and the White House, who monitor Russian information operations, believe that the Russians greatly overestimated the extent to which the U.S. citizens follow certain events on the front line in Ukraine. In addition, the position of the Russians is based on the fact that if the Republicans win, the USA will allegedly reduce military aid to Ukraine, although there is no concrete evidence of this.

"A statement like this — no matter what Russia calls it — still shows that they are giving away the only regional center captured during the invasion," said one of the people familiar with the intelligence.

• Ukrainian military entered Kherson on November 11. Before that, the Russians announced that they were withdrawing troops from the right bank of the Dnipro River and Kherson itself. Fleeing, the occupiers blew up all the bridges across the Dnipro, boiler houses, communication towers and the television center in Kherson. The city was completely cut off by the Russians. Communication and Ukrainian radio have already been returned there. Currently, the military is clearing Kherson from the occupiers and looking for collaborators.