Recapturing the city might give Ukraine a launching platform for supplies and troops attempting to reclaim another lost territory in the south, notably the 2014-seized Crimea.
After Russian forces withdrew from Kherson in a hasty retreat in which some Kremlin soldiers reportedly drowned, jubilant Ukrainians raised flags and celebrated inside the city.
Ukrainian forces re-entered the city in the south, which had been occupied since March, mere hours after the Russian withdrawal was completed.
Locals embraced Ukrainian soldiers, cheered in the streets, and scaled monuments to raise the national flag.
Sky’s Alex Rossi, reporting from the Kherson region, stated: “One woman told me that she has essentially been living in her basement since the Russians seized control of the region – for many, many months, living underground and in fear.
She was ecstatic to see the Ukrainian soldiers with whom we were allied.
The retreat is a major setback for Vladimir Putin’s invasion and a major turning point in the eight-month war, with one expert predicting that it could ultimately lead to the president’s downfall.
Carl Bildt, co-chairman of the European Council on Foreign Relations, speculated that the string of humiliating defeats will result in Mr. Putin’s ouster.
“Kherson currently – a scenario Vladimir Putin said would never occur. It is his third major defeat in this war, following Kyiv and Kharkiv. He will ultimately lose the Kremlin, as well,” he tweeted.
Russia’s top commander in Ukraine announced two days ago that it is no longer possible to supply the city and the surrounding areas on the west bank of the Dnieper River.
According to a statement carried out by Russia’s state-run news agencies, the operation was completed at 5 a.m. on Friday and no military equipment was left on the west bank.
Residents of the city, the sole regional capital that Moscow had captured during the war, were instructed to remain at home while searches were conducted for any remaining Russian soldiers.
Even so, crowds gathered in the streets to celebrate the retreat of the Russians.
The Russian military ministry said it has withdrawn 30,000 soldiers to the eastern bank of the river.
Many Russian servicemen drowned while trying to evacuate, a member of the Kherson regional council stated.
Recapturing the city might give Ukraine a launching platform for supplies and troops attempting to reclaim another lost territory in the south, notably the 2014-seized Crimea.
A Kremlin spokesperson has refused to accept the retreat as embarrassing for Mr. Putin.
Dmitry Peskov said Moscow continues to regard the Kherson region as part of Russia.
He stated, “It is a subject of the Russian Federation and is legally fixed and defined.”
There are no changes and no changes are possible.
The office of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy described the situation in the Kherson region as “difficult” just before the Russian announcement.
It was reported that Russian forces shelled some of the villages and towns retaken by Ukrainian forces in recent weeks during their counteroffensive in the region of Kherson.
A road bridge connecting Kherson to the east bank of the Dnieper appears to have also collapsed.
Ukraine’s public broadcaster, Suspilne, quoted residents confirming the news on Friday.
Uncertainty surrounds the apparent cause of the collapse, but Russian media reports suggest the bridge was blown up following the withdrawal.
