Ukraine's top military brass on Thursday withdrew a report that wrongly said Russian troops had left the town of Nova Kahkovka in southern Kherson region, and blamed an error for the mistake.

The general staff of the armed forces, in a rare retraction, said Russian troops remained in the town on the east bank of the Dnipro River. It said the initial report had been issued "as a result of incorrect use of available data" but gave no details.

Vladimir Saldo, the Russian-installed governor of Kherson region, had earlier denied the report.

Russian forces redeployed to the east bank of the Dnipro River last November after abandoning positions on the west bank in the face of a counter-offensive by Ukrainian troops.