The importance of Russia’s announcement that it is pulling out troops from Kherson cannot be understated. Without Kherson, a strategic port in southern Ukraine that it has held since February, Moscow will be hard-pressed to continue its offensive towards the southern Ukrainian city of Mykolaiv and the Black Sea port of Odesa. The Ukrainian army, suspicious of falling into a trap, has neither confirmed nor denied the Russian withdrawal. However, military experts believe the Russian announcement is not a russe. “The battle of Kherson is not inherently over,” said The Institute for the Study of War, a US-based think-tank. “But...