Key Points
- Russian forces have abandoned the Ukrainian city of Kherson in the face of a major Ukrainian counter-offensive.
- Kherson had been the only regional capital that Russian forces had captured since the 24 February invasion.
- Vladimir Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov rejected suggestions the retreat is humiliating for the Russian leader.
Jubilant residents welcomed Ukrainian troops arriving in the centre of Kherson on Friday after Russia abandoned the only regional capital it had captured since its invasion in February.
"Today is a historic day. We are getting the south of the country back, we are getting Kherson back," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in an evening video address.
"As of now, our defenders are on the outskirts of the city, and we are very close to entering. But special units are already in the city," he said.
Russia said it had withdrawn 30,000 troops across the Dnipro River without losing a single soldier. But Ukrainians painted a picture of a chaotic retreat, with Russian troops ditching their uniforms, dropping weapons and drowning while trying to flee.
The withdrawal marked the third major Russian retreat of the war and the first to involve yielding such a large occupied city in the face of a major Ukrainian counter-offensive that has retaken parts of the east and south.
Video footage verified by Reuters showed dozens of people cheering and chanting victory slogans in Kherson city's central square, where the apparent first Ukrainian troops to arrive snapped selfies in the throng.
Two men hoisted a female soldier on their shoulders and tossed her into the air. Some residents wrapped themselves in Ukrainian flags. One man was weeping with joy.
Ukraine's defence intelligence agency said Kherson was being restored to Ukrainian control and ordered any remaining Russian troops to surrender to Kyiv's forces entering the city.
A man holds a Ukranian flag as people gather in Kyiv's Maidan Square to celebrate the recapture of Kherson. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Kherson is "ours" after Russia announced the completion of its withdrawal from the regional capital. Source: Getty / GENYA SAVILOV/AFP via Getty Images
"Glory to Ukraine! Glory to the Heroes! Glory to the Nation!" one man shouted in another video verified by Reuters.
Mr Zelenskyy said measures to make Kherson safe - in particular, removing what he called a large number of landmines - would start as soon as possible.
Ukrainian forces were strengthening their positions everywhere along the front, he said without elaborating.
The loss of Kherson city could dash dreams voiced by some Russians of seizing Ukraine's entire Black Sea coast.
The only road route near Kherson across the Dnipro river, the already damaged Antonivskiy bridge, collapsed. Russian military bloggers said it was probably blown up as Russian troops withdrew.
The Russian defence ministry said it had adopted "defensive lines and positions" on the eastern bank of the river, which Moscow hopes it will be able to better supply and defend.
Mr Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the decision to retreat was taken by the defence ministry. Asked by reporters if it was humiliating for Putin, Peskov said: "No."
The Kremlin said the withdrawal would not change the status of Kherson as "a subject of the Russian Federation".
'They left silently'
As Ukrainian forces surged forward during one of the most humiliating Russian retreats of the war, villagers came out of hiding and, amid tears of relief and joy, described how Russian troops had killed residents and looted homes.
Reuters could not independently verify the accounts and Russia's defence ministry did not immediately respond to questions about allegations made by residents of the recaptured village of Blahodatne, 20 km north of Kherson.
Serhii Kalko, 43, one of roughly 60 people who stayed in Blahodatne out of a pre-war population of 1,000, was struck by how quiet the final Russian retreat had been.
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Ukrainian troops cautious as they approach Kherson
SBS News
11/11/202202:45
"They left silently. They didn't even speak with each other," he said.
Previously, "there was shooting all the time from three directions," said a tearful but ecstatic Halyna, a diminutive 81-year-old woman standing beside her rusty bicycle.
"But they left two nights ago. Now they need to leave Kherson."
Kherson returns to Ukrainian control Serhiy Khlan, a member of Ukraine's regional council for Kherson, said the regional capital was now almost fully under the control of Ukrainian forces.
A large number of Russian soldiers had drowned in the river trying to escape and others had changed into civilian clothing, he said, advising residents not to leave their homes while searches for remaining Russian troops took place.
Natalia Humeniuk, a spokesperson for the Ukrainian military's southern command, said "saboteur operations cannot be ruled out" by Russian troops in civilian clothes.
The destroyed Antonovskiy railway bridge in Kherson on 11 November 2022. Source: AAP / Maxar Technologies
"Not a single unit of military equipment or weapons have been left on the right (western) bank. All Russian servicemen crossed to the left bank," it added, saying that Russia had not suffered any loss of personnel or equipment.
Pro-Russian war bloggers had reported late on Thursday that Russian forces crossing the river were coming under heavy fire from Ukrainian forces. The Russian ministry said Ukrainian forces had struck Dnipro river crossings five times overnight with US-supplied HIMARS rocket systems.
