KYIV: A Ukrainian official warned that Russian land mines might transform Kherson into a "city of death" as Russia announced Thursday that it has started removing troops from a strategically important Ukrainian city.

Kherson's residents in eastern Ukraine were frightened to leave their houses for fear of being attacked by pro-Russian insurgents who were supported by Russia.

Regaining control of the city, which had a pre-war population of 280,000, might give Ukraine access to the rebel-held south. In other parts of the area, Ukrainian forces appear to be winning more battles and encroaching on the city.

In the province that the Kremlin has illegitimately annexed, Gen. Valeriy Zaluzhny, the head of the armed forces, claimed that Kyiv's soldiers have advanced 36.5 kilometres (22.7 miles) and retaken 41 villages and towns since October 1. And only on Wednesday, there were 12 settlements.

Mykhailo Podolyak, a presidential adviser for Ukraine, claimed that Russian troops mined the city as they left and predicted that they would shell it later.

The Kremlin could attempt to escalate the 8 1/2-month conflicts from these new positions, which U.S. assessments suggested may have already resulted in the deaths or wounds of tens of thousands of civilians and hundreds of thousands of soldiers.

On Thursday night, Zelenskyy declared that his men were rushing to clear land mines from 170,000 square meters (65,637 square miles) of land nationwide, and they also intended to clear them from Kherson. According to Natalia Humeniuk, a spokeswoman for the southern military of Ukraine, resistance fighters operating behind enemy lines "meticulously collect information" about vital infrastructure that could be endangered by explosives.

The eastern bank, also known as the left bank, of the Dnieper River is the site of a "maneuver of units," according to the Russian Defense Ministry. Russian troops left Kherson and the surrounding areas after their defense became "futile" due to the loss of supply routes.

On Thursday, Ukrainian officials seemed to temper their earlier doubts about whether the Russians were actually fleeing or rather attempting to capture Ukrainian soldiers. Armed forces head Zaluzhny claimed that because Kyiv's army broke supply lines and interfered with Russia's local military command, "the adversary had no choice but to resort to flight."

Still, he said the Ukrainian military could not confirm a Russian withdrawal. Vladimir Putin, the president of Russia, has not commented on the withdrawal. A little more than a month ago, he celebrated the annexation of Kherson and three other regions of Ukraine and vowed to defend them at all costs.

A local claimed that Kherson was deserted on Thursday and that the area around Antonivskiy Bridge, a crucial Dnieper River crossing that Ukrainian forces have frequently bombarded, could be heard explosions.

Russian flags, according to locals, have vanished from administrative buildings, and there are no longer any indications of military personnel. Emergency services and medical personnel will depart with the final Russian troops, according to state news agency Tass.

"The Russian military was moving vehicles toward the Antonivskiy Bridge, according to Halyna Lugova, head of the Ukrainian administration of Kherson City, who made the statement to Ukrainian television on Thursday. The city's conditions, according to Lugova, who is currently based in territory under Ukrainian control, are horrific.

The city's gas stations are closed, there is no fuel, and Kherson continues to be without power, heating, and internet access. For people with diabetes and cancer, the city has ran out of medicine. The local television station, a few cellphone towers, and electrical facilities, according to Ukrainian news reports, were all destroyed by the Russians.

When declaring successes against a Russian force that first outnumbered and outgunned Ukraine's armed forces, Ukrainian officials have previously exercised caution.

Orysia Lutsevych, head of the Ukraine Forum at international affairs think-tank Chatham House, said the reticence explains “why, until Ukrainians are in the city, they don’t want to declare that they have it (in) control.”

Rishi Sunak, the prime minister of Britain, was also circumspect. In their conversation on Thursday, he and Zelenskyy agreed that "it was right to continue to exercise caution until the Ukrainian flag was raised over the city," according to his office.

According to Ukrainian military analyst Oleh Zhdanov, the key question is whether the Ukrainians will allow the Russians to retreat peacefully or if they will open fire on them when they cross to the left side. Personnel can be evacuated by boats, but equipment can only be done so via barges and pontoons, which the Ukrainian army can easily shell.

Immediately defending the retreat as difficult but essential, Putin's allies, The move, according to pro-Kremlin political analyst Sergei Markov, was "Russia's largest geopolitical setback since the collapse of the Soviet Union," he said, adding that the "political ramifications of this tremendous loss will be truly big."