Something afoot on the Kherson / Crimea front

Here’s an interesting development:

Background: the Ukrainians have had a small beachhead on the east bank of the Dnipr opposite Kherson, for so long now it almost amounts to a lodgement.  Russian milbloggers have been hyperventilating about this for weeks as being a(nother) threat to Crimea, even as they crow over the obvious relative failure of Ukraine’s summer offensive, which has failed to reach Tokmak, (never mind Melitopol).  There have been strange goings-on in the Russian force opposing this bridgehead: it has completely failed to push it back into the river, precarious though it looks, admidst rumours of the original Russian commander there being an ineffectual martinet and lately dismissed, and his highly regarded successor being recently wounded badly in one of many precision strikes by Ukrainian on Russian HQs while top-level meetings are in progress.

Now we have this, from the official Russian news agency:

The original post had been up for one hour 22 mins.  I’m sure you don’t need me to interpret for you the euphemism “regroup to more advantageous positions“.  The Russians did a lot of that Sept-Nov last year.

Well, of course, they have an answer to the TASS debacle:

Yeah, right: annulled as issued by mistake, errr, no, wait a minute, allegedly on behalf of … a provocation.   So which is it guys?  A mistake – or Ukraine having hacked TASS … twice!  Not sure which is more awkward, really.