Summary
It is now approaching 9pm in Kyiv, on an evening where Ukrainian forces are on the outskirts of Kherson city, having taken a number of small villages on Thursday.
Meanwhile Russian troops are withdrawing towards the eastern side of the Dnipro River.
Ukrainian forces were closing on the outskirts of southern city Kherson, as Russia said on Thursday it had begun its retreat announced the previous day. Hours after claiming the liberation of the key town of Snihurivka, images emerged of relaxed-looking soldiers from Ukraine’s 28th Mechanized Brigade with a Ukrainian flag in Kyslivka, a village just outside Klapaya and about nine miles (15km) from Kherson’s city centre.
There are reports that Mykolaiv oblast is now free of Russian forces, which are yet to be officially confirmed.
On Wednesday the Russian defence minister, Sergei Shoigu had ordered troops to leave Kherson, the only regional capital Moscow had captured since the invasion began. The announcement marks one of Russia’s most significant retreats and a potential turning point in the war. General Sergei Surovikin, in overall command of the war, called it a “very difficult decision”.
While Russia did not formally declare it was abandoning Kherson, all signs point to a Moscow retreat. “Kherson cannot be fully supplied and function,” Surovikin said. “The decision to defend on the left bank of the Dnipro is not easy, at the same time we will save the lives of our military.” Russia had been preparing its exit for the last month, moving command and control across the river.
The US has detected some signs that Russian forces may be planning to withdraw from the Ukraine city of Kherson, the White House said on Thursday.
Ukraine’s army chief, Valeriy Zaluzhnyi, said Kyiv could not yet confirm whether Russia was indeed pulling out of the city, but that Ukrainian troops had advanced seven kilometres (four miles) in the past 24 hours and recaptured 12 settlements.
Ukraine reacted with caution, saying some Russian forces were still in Kherson and additional Russian manpower was being sent. “Until the Ukrainian flag is flying over Kherson, it makes no sense to talk about a Russian withdrawal,” said Mykhailo Podolyak, a senior adviser to the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
Ukraine’s deputy military intelligence chief Vadym Skibitsky has told the Guardian about his fears that Russia will try another Mariupol-style bombardment of Kherson city if they withdraw.
America’s top general and chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, estimates that Russia’s military had seen more than 100,000 of its soldiers killed and wounded in Ukraine, adding Kyiv’s armed forces has “probably” suffered a similar level of casualties. Mark Milley’s remarks offer the highest US estimate of casualties to date.
Russian president Vladimir Putin may only take part in the upcoming summit of the G20 group of nations in Bali via video link, according to Russian state news agency RIA. Zelenskiy is also due to appear via video.
Senior UN officials were planning to meet members of a high-level Russian delegation in Geneva on Friday to discuss extending the Ukraine grain deal, a UN spokesperson said.
Several European defence ministers said Ukraine should feel under no pressure to enter any peace negotiations with Russia as the war heads towards the nine-month mark at a meeting of the 10 country Joint Expeditionary Forum in Edinburgh on Thursday.
Thanks for following along. We’ll be back on Friday with more updates.
The US has detected some signs that Russian forces may be planning to withdraw from the Ukrainian city of Kherson, the White House said on Thursday.
National security adviser Jake Sullivan said the Russian withdrawal from some areas in Ukraine does not mean the Ukraine war is concluding, Reuters has reported.
He said Washington was not pressuring Ukraine to engage in diplomacy with Russia over the war.
Updated
A Ukrainian diplomat has written to the head of Milan’s La Scala opera house and to local political leaders to protest over plans to stage the Russian opera Boris Godunov next month.
Andrii Kartysh, who heads Ukraine’s consulate in Milan, said such performances should not be used to support “potential elements of propaganda”, Italy’s Ansa news agency reported on Thursday.
Boris Godunov was composed by Modest Mussorgsky in the 19th century. Russian bass Ildar Abdrazakov and soprano Anna Denisova are cast in the main roles for this production, which kicks off La Scala’s new season in early December. The event is one of the highlights of Italy’s cultural calendar.
Kartysh accused Russia of “using culture to lend weight to its assertions of greatness and power” following its invasion of Ukraine in February.
Several associations representing Ukrainians living in Italy have also protested against the choice of Mussorgsky’s classic work at this time. They have called for a different opera to be staged and for no Russian works to be put on until the war is over.
Updated
Here’s some analysis from my colleague Pjotr Sauer on Russia’s change of strategy as its army looks to leave Kherson city.
As has often been the case, Vladimir Putin was not present to deliver the bad news. On the day Russia announced a retreat from the Ukrainian city of Kherson, the Russian leader was touring a neurological hospital in Moscow, making no mention of the monumental decision.
It was instead Russia’s defence minister, Sergei Shoigu, and its commander in Ukraine, Gen Sergei Surovikin, who explained in a televised exchange that holding Kherson was no longer tenable.
Putin’s silence felt even more deafening on Thursday as the defence ministry announced in its daily briefing that it had “in strict accordance with the approved plan” begun retreating from Kherson, the only regional capital captured by Moscow since the start of the war.
Read more:
Our reporter Isobel Koshiw has spoken to Ukraine’s deputy military intelligence chief Vadym Skibitsky about the apparent withdrawal by Russian troops in Kherson to the east side of the Dnipro river.
Over half of the Russian forces that were stationed on the right bank were still there, said Vadym Skibitsky, Ukraine’s deputy military intelligence chief. Previous estimates put the total of Russian forces in the area at about 20,000.
First, the Russians moved the civilians, then the military who weren’t involved in active fighting, logistics and supplies. Now only individual fighting units are leaving, according to Skibitsky.
“The most recent information we have is the 4th tactical military base has supposedly been transferred to the left bank.
“The rest are still there, fighting, conducting military activities with the aim of providing cover for others to leave.”
According to Skibitsky, the Russians are retreating from the second line of defence to which they were pushed back by Ukrainian forces in early October. But they have built a defence line around Kherson city – and he said “time will tell” whether they choose to defend the city.
He believes the Russians will retreat to the east side of the river and take up defensive positions to protect Crimea. Ahead of their retreat the Russians mined the area.
It’s thought that the retreat from the right bank of Kherson will free up forces that will then be shifted to the Donbas front, which is now the priority. He ruled out that the Russians currently have the capability to launch a new offensive front, for example from Belarus.
“They need to reach the administrate boundaries of the Donetsk region. They need to at least fulfil one of their tasks – creating the so-called Donetsk Republic is their priority task,” said Skibitsky.
The recently appointed Russian commander for Ukraine, Sergei Surovikin, is dealing with the “simple issues”, including regrouping forces, which his predecessors failed to do, said Skibitsky.
“Surovikin is strengthening coordination and improving the management system so that they are controlled, work well and are able to fulfil the goals that are asked of them.”
He said he fears that now the evacuation has taken place, Russian forces will try to repeat their attacks on Mariupol, shelling it and destroying “everything”.
“All they care about now is the territory,” said Skibitsky.
Updated
The Estonian government has said it may remove Soviet-era monuments from public spaces, saying they incite hatred amid Russia’s war in Ukraine.
The parliament of neighbouring Baltic country Latvia has already voted to remove all remaining Soviet statues and plaques by mid-November, prompting Russia to summon its ambassador.
Estonia and Latvia have large Russian-speaking minorities that are sometimes at odds with the national governments.
There have been concerns that Moscow could seek to exploit these differences to destabilise the countries, which are both EU and NATO members.
“The government’s position is that Soviet monuments that incite hatred must be removed from public space,” the Estonian culture minister, Piret Hartman, said in a statement.
But “we need to distinguish the monuments that incite or romanticise war from the symbols or buildings that, according to experts, have significant historical or cultural value,” she added.
Estonia had already taken down many monuments when it became independent of the Soviet Union in 1991. It is now moving to remove the remaining ones after Russia’s invasion.
Updated
Another video has emerged from a village that Ukrainian troops have recaptured. This time it’s Stanislav, near the coast in the Kherson region.
Ukrainian flag in liberated Stanislav village, Kherson region.
— Anton Gerashchenko (@Gerashchenko_en) November 10, 2022
These videos are so emotional. People are singing our Ukrainian anthem.
📹: h@evyi Kherson pic.twitter.com/0ggJB9kp8T
As the Ukrainian forces have been pushing towards Kherson city, many Ukrainians have been seeing their compatriots for the first time in months, since the Russian army took over.
Macer Gifford, a British man who is fighting as part of a Ukrainian battalion, captured these images of people greeting troops as they arrived in one of the recaptured cities.
Here's a short clip of liberated Ukrainians seeing us for the first time.
— Macer Gifford (@macergifford) November 10, 2022
We had this all day yesterday and the day before! 🥹
Like the hundreds of people we met, we also were almost overcome with emotion and tiredness. We pushed hard and fast. This is the result, happy faces ♥️ pic.twitter.com/V9BincVLJ2
Updated
Several European defence ministers said Ukraine should feel under no pressure to enter any peace negotiations with Russia as the war heads towards the nine-month mark at a meeting of the 10 country Joint Expeditionary Forum in Edinburgh on Thursday.
Ben Wallace, the UK defence minister, said that it was for Ukraine to decide whether it wanted to have any peace negotiations and that it was for western powers to help Ukraine “fight for its right to choose” without “a gun to its head from the Kremlin” at a press conference after the meeting of northern European nations.
“We want Ukraine to be able to discuss or resolve this issue from a position of strength, not a position of weakness. And that is the current direction of travel,” Wallace added, citing a recent US assessment that 100,000 Russian solders had been killed or injured in Ukraine from an initial invasion force of 130,000 to 140,000.
Kajsa Ollongren, the Dutch defence minister, reinforced Wallace’s message, saying: “What’s important is that at this point Ukraine knows that it can count on us” and that Ukraine was winning with the help of training provided by western countries.
The Dutch minister emphasised that for Ukraine the war was existential and so it was necessary for it to carry on fighting against the Russian invasion. “If Russia stops fighting the war ends, but if Ukraine stops fighting there is no Ukraine any more,” she said.
Artis Pabriks, Latvia’s deputy prime minister and defence minister, urged scepticism about any Russian offers of peace talks at this stage of the conflict. The offer could not be genuine if “at the same time they are bombing civilians” and that it was Russia that “was responsible” for the war as a whole, he said. It was not incumbent on Kyiv to seek to halt the fighting in the current circumstances, he argued.
The Netherlands also announced it would contribute €100m to the International Fund for Ukraine, aimed at purchasing military equipment for Kyiv. Set up in the wake of the invasion, total commitments to the fund by western governments now exceeded “half a billion euros” Wallace said, and arms purchases will begin next year.
Updated
Summary
It’s just gone 6pm in Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital. Here are the latest developments in the war as Ukrainian troops continue to advance on Kherson city.
Ukrainian forces were closing on the outskirts of southern city Kherson, as Russia said on Thursday it had begun its retreat announced the previous day. Hours after claiming the liberation of the key town of Snihurivka, images emerged of relaxed-looking soldiers from Ukraine’s 28th Mechanized Brigade with a Ukrainian flag in Kyslivka, a village just outside Klapaya and about nine miles (15km) from Kherson’s city centre.
There are reports that Mykolaiv oblast is now free of Russian forces, which are yet to be officially confirmed.
On Wednesday the Russian defence minister, Sergei Shoigu had ordered troops to leave Kherson, the only regional capital Moscow had captured since the invasion began. The announcement marks one of Russia’s most significant retreats and a potential turning point in the war. General Sergei Surovikin, in overall command of the war, called it a “very difficult decision”.
While Russia did not formally declare it was abandoning Kherson, all signs point to a Moscow retreat. “Kherson cannot be fully supplied and function,” Surovikin said. “The decision to defend on the left bank of the Dnipro is not easy, at the same time we will save the lives of our military.” Russia had been preparing its exit for the last month, moving command and control across the river.
Ukraine’s army chief, Valeriy Zaluzhnyi, said Kyiv could not yet confirm whether Russia was indeed pulling out of the city, but that Ukrainian troops had advanced seven kilometres (four miles) in the past 24 hours and recaptured 12 settlements.
Ukraine reacted with caution, saying some Russian forces were still in Kherson and additional Russian manpower was being sent. “Until the Ukrainian flag is flying over Kherson, it makes no sense to talk about a Russian withdrawal,” said Mykhailo Podolyak, a senior adviser to the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
The UK prime minister, Rishi Sunak, spoke to Zelenskiy on Thursday morning, where they agreed that the Russian withdrawal from the occupied city of Kherson would represent “strong progress” for Ukraine’s forces.
America’s top general and chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, estimates that Russia’s military had seen more than 100,000 of its soldiers killed and wounded in Ukraine, adding Kyiv’s armed forces has “probably” suffered a similar level of casualties in the war. Mark Milley’s remarks offer the highest US estimate of casualties to date in the nearly nine-month-old conflict.
Russian president Vladimir Putin may only take part in the upcoming summit of the G20 group of nations in Bali via video link, Russian state news agency RIA said on Thursday, citing the Russian embassy in Indonesia. Zelenskiy is also due to appear via video.
Senior UN officials were planning to meet members of a high-level Russian delegation in Geneva on Friday to discuss extending the Ukraine grain deal, a UN spokesperson said. “They will continue ongoing consultations in support of the efforts by the secretary general António Guterres on the full implementation of the two agreements signed on 22 July in Istanbul,” the spokesperson said.
NATO general secretary Jens Stoltenberg said Putin made “several huge mistakes” when he invaded, including underestimating Nato’s ability to support Ukraine.
Ukrainian media outlet the Kyiv Post has claimed that the Mykolaiv region is now free of Russian troops.
It would be a big development in the war after Russia has occupied part of the oblast since the invasion in February.
The south-east corner of the area was incorporated into the Russian-administered Kherson region on 30 September, but Ukraine’s counter offensive has pushed the occupying forces out as they continue to push towards Kherson city itself.
⚡️ According to the preliminary reports, Mykolaiv Oblast is now Russian-free.
— KyivPost (@KyivPost) November 10, 2022
Goodbye and "farebad"!
The EU has said it will not recognise Russian passports issued in regions of Ukraine annexed by Moscow.
The move – which also covers two Kremlin-controlled areas of Georgia – means Russian travel documents given to residents of those regions cannot be used to get visas or to enter the Schengen zone, according to Reuters.
“This decision is a response to Russia’s unprovoked and unjustified military aggression against Ukraine and Russia’s practice of issuing Russian international passports to residents of the occupied regions,” the European Council said in a statement.
The move still needs to be formally signed off by the European parliament and EU member states.
In September, the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, laid claim to four regions of Ukraine in a unilateral declaration widely rejected by the international community. Moscow also annexed Ukraine’s Crimea peninsula in 2014.
Updated
Jonathan Landay is in a village near the frontline in Kherson for Reuters, the precise location of which cannot be disclosed due to Ukrainian military rules. There he spoke to 85-year-old Nadiia Nizarenko, who said last night was “the first night it’s been quiet, it’s like there was no war”.
Her 63-year-old daughter, Svitlana Lischeniuk, who retired last year as the local school director, was suspicious of what would come next, telling the reporter: “[The Russians] can prepare a trap for our army. We will get Kherson back, but what is very important is that our soldiers don’t suffer.”
The family has lived on humanitarian aid, pickled vegetables grown over the summer, water from a nearby well and occasional grocery runs to the town of Bashtanka. They also have a portable generator and a wood-burning stove.
“We have wood, so we have heat,” Lischeniuk said. “We will be able to survive and I’m sure we can get through the winter.”
The school where she worked has been reduced to rubble. Lischeniuk said she had left this summer but returned to help guard her neighbour’s properties and extinguish fires that she said the Russians deliberately set to destroy the wheat in surrounding fields.
“I am here on a mission,” she declared. “My place is here.”
Updated
Ukrainian troops capture town on key route towards Kherson
Here is the latest news roundup from my colleagues Peter Beaumont and Isobel Koshiw in Kyiv:
Ukrainian forces have taken the town of Snihurivka on a key route on the approach to Kherson, as Russia said on Thursday it had begun its retreat from the southern city, which was announced in Moscow a day earlier.
“The Russian troop units are manoeuvring to a prepared position on the left bank of the Dnipro River in strict accordance with the approved plan,” the Russian defence ministry said.
Ukraine’s army chief, Valeriy Zaluzhnyi, said Kyiv could not yet confirm whether Russia was indeed pulling out of the city, but that Ukrainian troops had advanced 7km (four miles) in the past 24 hours and recaptured 12 settlements.
However, eyewitness reports said Russian forces were still visible in Kherson, with Ukrainian troops continuing their advance from three directions from the north, east and west, as the large pocket around the city once held by Russian forces appeared to be shrinking.
Video footage showed a group of Ukrainian soldiers in Snihurivka as one of them announced: “Today, on 10 November, Snihurivka was liberated by the forces of the 131st Separate Intelligence Battalion. Glory to Ukraine!” A small group of civilians applauded nearby.
Snihurivka, situated about 19 miles (30km) north of Kherson, was an important logistics hub for Russian forces on the west bank of the Dnipro and acted as an anchor for the Russian defensive lines situated there.
Read more from Peter Beaumont and Isobel Koshiw in Kyiv here: Ukrainian troops capture town on key route towards Kherson
Updated
Russia’s state-owned RIA Novosti news agency is reporting that the Russian-imposed authorities in occupied Kherson are telling residents that it is still possible to leave the city and transfer to the left bank of the Dnipro River, but that it needs to be done by private means. The Russian-imposed authorities in the region, which Russia claims to have annexed, had been carrying out what it had termed “evacuations”, which authorities in Kyiv had described as forced deportations.
RIA quotes Yekaterina Gubareva saying the possibility of the departure of the population from the right-bank part of the Kherson region remains, but she added: “This can now be done only in private. All events related to organised departures have been discontinued, they are not planned to be resumed.”
Updated
While the push towards Kherson is getting most of the attention, fighting is still taking place in the occupied Donetsk region in east Ukraine.
Agence France Presse (AFP) also had a reporter in Bakhmut, 85km north of Donetsk city, as people banded together to survive.
In a supermarket car park in Bakhmut, the eastern Ukrainian city at the centre of the fighting for the Donbas region, Anatoliy is rushing to load up his truck with coal for him and his neighbours, determined to stay dug in for the winter.
Around half of Bakhmut’s 70,000 people have stayed on despite the fighting raging for the past four months, mostly in the east of the city.
“The fact that we are still here and helping others, that means a lot to us,” says Anatoliy, a 60-year-old man with a white beard and a beanie.
“We aren’t just going to stay here and do nothing. We cannot survive on our own,” Anatoliy adds, still shovelling.
Locals are allowed to pick up two tons of coal per household in a city with no electricity or running water since mid-October.
But the sound of endless explosions of shelling between Ukrainian forces defending the city and Russian troops boosted by Wagner mercenaries can be heard overhead.
When Russia invaded in February “we still had emotions, but now, we are just surviving”, Anatoliy says.
“We are giving humanitarian aid. I have a house, I have bees, and anything I can harvest in my garden, I give it to people for free,” he says.
“If someone needs carrots, cabbages or beetroots, they can take it ... I don’t need much, so long as it can help people survive,” Anatoliy says.
“These days, we think about others more than we used to.”
Updated
As Russia prepares to withdraw from Kherson, Agence France Presse (AFP), has filed this dispatch from nearby Mykolaiv, where Ukrainians are sceptical about the Russians backing away.
Few Ukrainians shopping for socks and extension cords on the main market of the biggest city near the Kherson front on Thursday could believe the Russians really were pulling back.
Russian generals have ordered their troops to abandon their main southern bastion and other positions on the west bank of the Dnipro River.
Wednesday’s televised announcement capped weeks of creeping progress by Ukraine’s forces towards the biggest city – and only regional capital – Russia had captured in the war.
There were suspicions that it was all a trick by the Russians, looking to dupe Ukrainians and take advantage.
“Why would they just get up and go after defending it with all their might for eight months?” mechanic Igor Kosorotov asked.
“I think that would be the height of stupidity. It makes no sense in my mind,” the 59-year-old said.
Military officials say the riverside port has been bombed on 80% of the days of the war.
“How you can you trust a thing they say?” driver Volodymyr Vypritskiy demanded in between stalls selling vegetables and winter hats.
“How can you trust people that always told us they were our brothers? People who start killing their brothers – can you really believe them?” the 55-year-old asked.
Updated
Following the earlier videos and reports that Ukrainian forces had captured the village of Kyselivka, the Guardian’s Peter Beaumont is reporting that they are now closing in on Chornobaivka on the outskirts of Kherson city, near its airport.
Looks like some Ukrainian forces are now close to Chornobaivka. Start of urban area that includes Kherson. So 15k ish from Kherson city centre
— petersbeaumont (@petersbeaumont1) November 10, 2022
To get an image of location, the airport can be seen on this satellite image, to the north-west of Kherson.
Here’s a tweet from Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy after his phone conversation with UK prime minister Rishi Sunak.
One additional piece of information is the agreement between the two leaders on the continuation of the deal to ship grain out of Ukraine via the Black Sea.
I had a phone call with 🇬🇧 PM @RishiSunak. We discussed the multifaceted defense support for Ukraine and assistance in enduring the winter period. We also spoke in favor of the continuation of the "grain deal" and agreed positions on the eve of important international events.
— Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) November 10, 2022
Updated
The UK prime minister, Rishi Sunak, spoke to the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, on Thursday morning, where they agreed that the Russian withdrawal from the occupied city of Kherson would represent “strong progress” for Ukraine’s forces.
They said that caution would be used until the Ukrainian flag was flying over the city again, indicating a full recapture, Reuters reports.
Sunak also reiterated the UK’s “unwavering military, economic and political” support for Ukraine.
Updated
There are reports that Ukraine has completely retaken the village of Kyselivka, 15km to the north-west of Kherson city and not far from the region’s airport.
It had previously been the site of battles between Ukraine and Russian forces.
Village of Kysylivka, less than 15 km away from Kherson, is under Ukrainian control. Countdown to liberation is ticking. pic.twitter.com/6hbTvFQsH7
— Taras Berezovets (@TarasBerezovets) November 10, 2022
Updated
Updated
This from my colleague Isobel Koshiw, who is reporting from Kyiv on Iranian drones being used by Russia.
Ukraine’s military has shown the Guardian evidence that at least some of the Iranian-made drones used by Russia in its war were probably supplied after Moscow’s full-scale invasion in February.
Ukraine said it first noticed that Russia was using Iranian-supplied weapons in September. Since then, Russia has successfully used them to target Ukraine’s critical energy infrastructure, causing serious power shortages.
Russia’s own weaponry stockpiles have been severely depleted by months of fighting, say western and Ukrainian intelligence officials, leaving it in search of help from allies such as Iran.
In addition to more drones, anonymous western officials told CNN that Russia was planning to buy Iranian ballistic missiles. The same officials said that Iran had sent 450 drones to Russia and would send another 1,000 units of weaponry, including the expected missiles.
Read more:
Updated
Nato general secretary: 'Kherson withdrawal would be another victory for Ukraine'
Nato’s general secretary, Jens Stoltenberg, says Russia is coming under “heavy pressure” after the country’s defence minister ordered troops to withdraw from Kherson.
Reuters reports that Stoltenberg spoke to reporters after meeting the new Italian prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, in Rome on Thursday.
“What is clear is that Russia is coming under heavy pressure and if they leave Kherson it would be another victory for Ukraine,” he said.
Updated
Germany has delivered more military equipment to Ukraine, including reconnaissance drones, MRAP vehicles, missiles and anti-drone equipment.
The delivery was welcomed by Ukraine’s military intelligence body on Thursday.
Ukrainian state broadcaster, Ukrinform, reports that Germany has given military support worth €1.5bn (£1.3bn) since the start of the conflict.
⚡️ Німеччина відправила до України розвідувальні безпілотники
— Defence intelligence of Ukraine (@DI_Ukraine) November 10, 2022
▪️Про це повідомив Уряд ФРН. З Німеччини до України направлено додатковий пакет військової допомоги, до якого, зокрема, увійшло 18 розвідувальних БПЛА. Крім того, ФРН надала інші необхідні захисникам України засоби. pic.twitter.com/jPcurafis5
Updated
Ukrainian troops have advanced 7km in two directions and recaptured 12 settlements, according to its armed forces.
The Ukrainian army commander-in-chief, Valeriy Zaluzhny, was quoted by the force’s official Telegram account, which shows a map indicating Ukrainian advances towards Kherson city.
He said: “We can’t yet confirm or deny the information of the so-called withdrawal of Russian occupation troops from Kherson. We continue to conduct the offensive operation in line with our plan.”
Significant efforts of our military are behind the so-called “goodwill gesture” of the enemy. Just as the enemy retreated from Kyiv and Kharkiv oblast, abandoned Zmiinyi (Snake) Island, the likely pullout from Kherson are the outcome of our active operations. #ValeriiZaluzhnyi pic.twitter.com/A8RigBFq2U
— Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (@CinC_AFU) November 10, 2022
Updated
Summary of the day so far …
There have been diverging reactions to Russia’s announcement on Wednesday that it would withdraw its troops from the right bank of Kherson region – in what would be another defeat for its forces.
On Wednesday the Russian defence minister, Sergei Shoigu, ordered troops to leave Ukraine’s southern city of Kherson, the only regional capital Moscow had captured since the invasion began. The announcement marked one of Russia’s most significant retreats and a potential turning point in the war. General Sergei Surovikin, in overall command of Russian forces, called it a “very difficult decision”.
While Russia did not formally declare it was abandoning Kherson, all signs point to a Moscow retreat. “Kherson cannot be fully supplied and function,” Surovikin said. “The decision to defend on the left bank of the Dnipro is not easy, at the same time we will save the lives of our military.” Russia had been preparing its exit for the last month, moving its command and control across the river.
Ukraine reacted with caution, saying some Russian forces were still in Kherson and additional Russian manpower was being sent. “Until the Ukrainian flag is flying over Kherson, it makes no sense to talk about a Russian withdrawal,” said Mykhailo Podolyak, a senior adviser to the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
On Thursday, Podolyak said Russian forces were booby-trapping the city of Kherson, accusing them of trying to turn it into a “city of death”. He claimed that the Russian military “mines everything they can: apartments, sewers” and that “artillery on the left bank” of the Dnipro River “plans to turn the city into ruins.”
Russia’s loss of Kherson’s west bank will probably prevent its forces from achieving their strategic aspiration of a land bridge reaching Odesa, according to the UK Ministry of Defence. “With limited crossing points, Russian forces will be vulnerable in crossing the Dnipro River,” the latest British intelligence report reads.
Russia’s decision to withdraw troops from near the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson is a positive step, said the president of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
The US’s top general, who chairs the Joint Chiefs of Staff, estimates that more than 100,000 Russian military personnel have been killed or wounded in Ukraine, adding that Kyiv’s armed forces have “probably” suffered a similar level of casualties in the war. Mark Milley’s remarks offer the highest US estimate of casualties to date in the nearly nine-month conflict.
Italy has not ruled out new measures to provide further military support for Ukraine but these are not on table at the moment, defence minister Guido Crosetto told Il Messaggero.
The US reportedly will not give Ukraine advanced drones in order to avoid an escalation with Russia, according to the Wall Street Journal. Kyiv has pleaded for the weaponry for months. The Biden administration’s decision reflects the limit of the kinds of weaponry Washington is willing to provide for Ukraine’s defence, the paper noted.
Putin may only take part in the upcoming summit of the G20 group of nations in Bali via video link, Russian state news agency RIA said on Thursday, citing the Russian embassy in Indonesia. Zelenskiy is also due to appear via video.
The global dash for gas amid the Ukraine war will accelerate climate breakdown and could send temperatures soaring far beyond the 1.5C limit of safety, analysis has shown. If all of the new gas projects announced in response to the global gas supply crunch are fulfilled, the resulting greenhouse gas emissions would add up to about 10% of the total amount of carbon dioxide that can safely be emitted by 2050.
Police on Jersey have admitted they conducted unlawful searches at premises allegedly linked to Russian businessman Roman Abramovich and have agreed to pay damages and apologise.
That is it from me, Martin Belam, for now. I will be back with you later on. In the meantime, Harry Taylor will be with you.
Updated
Sweden will continue its dialogue with Turkey to overcome objections raised by Ankara over its application to join the Nato alliance, its foreign minister, Tobias Billstrom, said on Thursday.
“I think the discussions are continuing in a very positive way,” Billstrom told reporters in Berlin after meeting his German counterpart, Reuters reports.
Billstrom said discussions would continue on all levels and that he would go to Ankara shortly.
At the same time, Germany’s foreign minister, Annalena Baerbock, spoke about Hungary’s delay in ratifying the accession of Sweden and Finland to the alliance.
“With regard to the question about Hungary: I would like to underline this clearly … there is no grey area,” Baerbock told a joint news conference.
Hungary’s parliament will discuss the ratification during its autumn session.
Updated
Ukrainian official: Russia mining Kherson to turn it into 'city of death'
A senior Ukrainian official has warned that Russian forces are booby-trapping the city of Kherson, accusing them of trying to turn it into a “city of death”.
Mykhailo Podolyak, adviser to the head office of Ukraine’s president, tweeted that Russia “wants to turn Kherson into a ‘city of death’”,
He claimed that the Russian military “mines everything they can: apartments, sewers”, and that “artillery on the left bank” of the Dnipro River “plans to turn the city into ruins”.
He said that the Russian forces deployed to Kherson city “came, robbed, celebrated, killed ‘witnesses’, left ruins and left”..
RF wants to turn Kherson into a "city of death". Ru-military mines everything they can: apartments, sewers. Artillery on the left bank plans to turn the city into ruins. This is what "Russian world" looks like: came, robbed, celebrated, killed "witnesses", left ruins and left.
— Михайло Подоляк (@Podolyak_M) November 10, 2022
The city – which Russian forces announced they would be retreating from on Wednesday – was one of the areas that the Russian Federation claimed to annex from Ukraine in September.
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Russia’s foreign ministry said on Thursday it had summoned the Latvian ambassador in protest over what it described as the demolition of Soviet-era monuments, Reuters reports.
“A strong protest was issued to the head of the Latvian diplomatic mission in connection with the ongoing policy of state vandalism in Latvia to dismantle Soviet memorials,” the foreign ministry said.
In recent months, Latvia has removed statues and memorials including the Monument to the Liberators of Soviet Latvia and Riga from the German Fascist Invaders, a 79-metre concrete obelisk which had stood in Riga since 1985.
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In the earliest days of the war, Ukrainian teacher Olena Kurilo became one of its defining images. She was photographed by Anadolu Agency photojournalist Wolfgang Schwan. She was pictured on 24 February with her head wrapped in a bandage and her face caked with blood after an airstrike on the city of Chuhuiv in Kharkiv oblast, eastern Ukraine.
Now photographer and subject have been reunited after nine months, meeting up in Warsaw where they posed next to the image.
In an interview with Anadolu Agency this week, Kurilo said: “I needed surgery, and clinics in Ukraine could not take me, but thanks to British journalists and newspapers, I managed to get to Poland and I had three surgeries.”
She said that the photo had helped give her a purpose, telling reporters: “It just happened that I became a face of the Ukrainian war, but I understood that it didn’t happen just by accident. I understood that this was on purpose and that I had a mission. My mission now is to help people. It’s true that I speak mainly about Ukraine because I understand that now my duty is also to help Ukraine’s victory and help my country and I use my voice as much as I can.”
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The British government said on Thursday it had frozen assets worth £18bn ($20.5bn) held by Russian oligarchs, other individuals and entities sanctioned for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“We have imposed the most severe sanctions ever on Russia and it is crippling their war machine,” said Andrew Griffith, a junior government minister in the Treasury, Reuters reports. “Our message is clear: we will not allow Putin to succeed in this brutal war.”
Britain has so far imposed sanctions on more than 1,200 individuals and more than 120 entities in Russia.
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Video appears to show Ukraine has captured Snihurivka in Mykolaiv region
The Ukrainian 131st Separate Reconnaissance Battalion has posted a video to Telegram that they say was filmed in Snihurivka, Mykolaiv region. It would mark the first official confirmation that Ukrainian troops have captured the town.
The message accompanying the video reads: “Today, 10 November 2022, the settlement of Snihurivka was liberated [by] the forces of 131 separate reconnaissance battalion. Glory to Ukraine!”
A version with English subtitles has also been posted to Twitter.
Snihurivka, Mykolaiv oblast - liberated 10/11/2022 pic.twitter.com/eZSRD5c3uV
— Special Kherson Cat 🐈🇺🇦 (@bayraktar_1love) November 10, 2022
Snihurivka is about 35 miles from the city of Kherson.
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Here are some of the latest images of live in Ukraine that have been sent to us over the newswires today.
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Vitaliy Kim, the governor of Mykolaiv, has posted to Telegram to say that there is an air alert in effect in the region.
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My colleague Peter Beaumont has tweeted this brief analysis, reminding us that a Russian retreat from the city of Kherson is “in progress not done” and that it is not a negotiated retreat. He cautions that there is “plenty of scope still for ugliness”.
A small caveat re Kherson retreat a) it’s in progress not done b) it’s not negotiated. Plenty of scope still for ugliness
— petersbeaumont (@petersbeaumont1) November 10, 2022
Fiona Harvey is in Sharm el-Sheikh for Cop27 for the Guardian, and reports on the wider climate implications of the war in Ukraine:
The global dash for gas amid the Ukraine war will accelerate climate breakdown and could send temperatures soaring far beyond the 1.5C limit of safety, analysis has shown.
If all of the new gas projects announced in response to the global gas supply crunch are fulfilled, the resulting greenhouse gas emissions would add up to about 10% of the total amount of carbon dioxide that can safely be emitted by 2050.
Bill Hare, the chief executive of Climate Analytics, one of the partner organisations behind Climate Action Tracker, told the Guardian that the world had “overreached” in its attempts to fill the hole left by Russian gas. “There will be just too much,” he said. “The volume of import capacity of gas being built in Europe far exceeds the replacement needs.”
The International Energy Agency warned last year that no new fossil fuel development could take place if the world were to stay within 1.5C of pre-industrial temperatures, the goal confirmed by countries at the Cop26 climate talks in Glasgow last year.
Read more of Fiona Harvey’s report here: ‘Major push’ for gas amid Ukraine war accelerating climate breakdown
Police on Jersey have admitted they conducted unlawful searches at premises allegedly linked to Russian businessman Roman Abramovich and have agreed to pay damages and apologise, according to a legal document seen by Reuters.
Jersey police did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Abramovich spent years attempting to distance himself from Vladimir Putin’s regime in Russia, only to make a prominent appearance at peace talks in Turkey in March amid claims that he had been jetting between Moscow, Kyiv and Istanbul as an intermediary since Russia invaded Ukraine in late February.
Maksym Kozytskyi, governor of Lviv, has said on Telegram that last night passed quietly in the region, with just one air alarm for an attack that didn’t materialise.
In the FT this morning, Henry Foy, Roman Olearchyk and Felicia Schwartz offer this analysis of the situation as it develops in Kherson, writing:
The colourful billboards erected by Russia’s occupying forces in the Ukrainian city of Kherson boasted that it would be a Russian city “forever”. In reality, that lasted just more than eight months.
[But] even if Kherson is evacuated quickly, it is very unlikely to spark a rout of Russian lines. By retreating from the city, which sits on the northwestern (or right) bank of the Dnipro River close to its Black Sea delta, Russia aims to reinforce its defences on the other side of the river, where it has been building defensive lines for weeks, reinforced by natural defences such as canals and wet, marshy ground.
[The retreat] would put three important roads that lie on the land bridge and a number of Russian logistic sites and ammunition dumps within range of Ukraine’s western-supplied high-precision rocket system — threatening a critical supply route that has fuelled Russia’s war effort from the peninsula. The Kherson province located on the right bank of the Dnieper River is “strategically important from a military standpoint as it gives us firepower control of the roads from Crimea used as supply lines by the Russians”, said Serhiy Kuzan, an adviser at Ukraine’s defence ministry. “It will be a very big blow to the Russian forces.”
Even if the conflict in south-east Ukraine sinks into a stalemate over winter, as some western officials have suggested, Kherson’s recapture will give Kyiv leverage as it lobbies western governments to step up supplies of arms and ammunition, and financial support.
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Ukraine remains sceptical over Russian withdrawal from Kherson
Isobel Koshiw reports for the Guardian from Kyiv:
There have been diverging reactions to Russia’s announcement on Wednesday that it would withdraw its troops from the right bank of Kherson region – in what would be another defeat for its forces.
In a televised meeting of Russia’s top military brass, Russia’s defence minister, Sergei Shoigu, gave the order to retreat from the right bank.
Several prominent western military analysts judge that the Russian announcement is genuine, prompted by Russia’s desire to save some of its best troops and equipment and to avoid a repeat of its chaotic retreat from Kharkiv region in September.
Very impressive and hard fought victory for Ukraine. The big question now is whether Russia can withdraw without taking heavy equipment and personnel losses. Ukraine has every incentive to make this withdrawal as chaotic and costly as possible. https://t.co/kqcq3ldCBL
— Rob Lee (@RALee85) November 9, 2022
The US president, Joe Biden, said at a press briefing that he had expected the decision for “some time” and that the withdrawal reflected “real problems” with the Russian army.
But Ukraine’s authorities appear to be sceptical of Russia’s move.
The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said in his nightly address on Wednesday that “the enemy does not bring us gifts” and “doesn’t just leave”. Zelenskiy said that Kherson and other occupied areas would be retaken by Ukraine but as a result of Ukrainian military efforts, “we need to fight our way”.
The head of Ukraine’s presidential administration, Andriy Yermak, implied in a tweet published late on Wednesday that Russia was trying to trick Ukraine. “Someone thinks they’re very cunning, but we’re one step ahead,” wrote Yermak.
Some appear very cunning…
— Andriy Yermak (@AndriyYermak) November 9, 2022
But we're a step ahead.
Similarly, Zelenskiy’s adviser, Mykhailo Podolyak, tweeted late on Wednesday that Ukraine saw no evidence Russia would leave without a fight and that Russian troops were still present in Kherson city. “Ukraine is liberating territories based on intelligence, not on staged TV statements.”
Actions speak louder than words. We see no signs that Russia is leaving Kherson without a fight. A part of the ru-group is preserved in the city, and additional reserves are charged to the region. 🇺🇦 is liberating territories based on intelligence data, not staged TV statements.
— Михайло Подоляк (@Podolyak_M) November 9, 2022
For several months, Ukraine has been pursuing a campaign to force Russian troops to withdraw from the right bank by targeting their supplies and supply lines such as ammunition depots and bridges. Kherson holds huge strategic and symbolic value for both sides.
The Guardian’s defence and security editor, Dan Sabbagh, offers this analysis of events of the last 24 hours, writing: as Russia tries to dig in, Ukraine’s challenge will be to repeat its victory in Kherson.
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Dmytro Zhyvytskyi, governor of Sumy, has said that in his region “the night passed calmly, without enemy shelling”.
Italy has not ruled out new measures to provide further military support for Ukraine but these are not on table at the moment, its defence minister told Il Messaggero daily in an interview published today, according to reports from Reuters.
Guido Crosetto also said he would reiterate Italy’s commitment to Nato and its support for Kyiv in a meeting in Rome with the alliance’s chief Jens Stoltenberg later in the day.
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Russia’s decision to withdraw troops from near the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson is a positive step, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said this morning.
Reuters reports Erdoğan was responding to a question about prospects of talks between Moscow and Kyiv at a news conference before departing on a visit to Uzbekistan.
This is Martin Belam taking over the live blog in London. I will be with you for the next few hours.
Putin may participate in G20 summit via video link
Russian president, Vladimir Putin, may take part in an upcoming summit of the G20 group of nations in Bali via video link, Russian state news agency RIA said on Thursday, citing the Russian embassy in Indonesia.
“The format of Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin’s participation is being worked out,” the agency quoted a diplomat as saying. “It is possible that he will take part in the summit via video conference.”
Earlier, an Indonesian government official told Reuters that foreign minister Sergei Lavrov would represent Putin at the summit, with the Russian president due to join one of the meetings online.
Vladimir Putin will not attend a gathering of leaders from the G20 nations in Bali next week, according to an Indonesian government official.
As G20 host, Indonesia has resisted pressure from western countries and Ukraine to withdraw its invitation to Putin from the leaders summit and expel Russia from the group over the war in Ukraine, saying it does not have the authority to do so without consensus among members.
The US reportedly will not give Ukraine advanced drones in order to avoid an escalation with Russia, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Kyiv has pleaded for the weaponry for months. The Biden administration’s decision reflects the limit of the kinds of weaponry Washington is willing to provide for Ukraine’s defence, the WSJ noted. A report published late on Wednesday read:
The Pentagon declined the request based on concerns that providing the Gray Eagle MQ-1C drones could escalate the conflict and signal to Moscow that the US was providing weapons that could target positions inside Russia, US officials and other people familiar with the decision said.”
Russian forces now unlikely to achieve land bridge to Odesa: UK MoD
Russia’s loss of Kherson’s west bank will likely prevent its forces from achieving their strategic aspiration of a land bridge reaching Odesa, according to the UK Ministry of Defence.
“With limited crossing points, Russian forces will be vulnerable in crossing the Dnipro River,” the latest British intelligence report reads.
It is likely that Russia’s withdrawal will take place over several days with defensive positions and artillery fires covering withdrawing forces, the ministry added.
Latest Defence Intelligence update on the situation in Ukraine - 10 November 2022
— Ministry of Defence 🇬🇧 (@DefenceHQ) November 10, 2022
Find out more about the UK government's response: https://t.co/VQ5RuGCleE
🇺🇦 #StandWithUkraine 🇺🇦 pic.twitter.com/K6DWlrgdzv
US general estimates 100,000 Russian soldiers killed and wounded
America’s top general and chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, estimates that Russia’s military had seen more than 100,000 of its soldiers killed and wounded in Ukraine, adding Kyiv’s armed forces has “probably” suffered a similar level of casualties in the war.
Mark Milley’s remarks offer the highest US estimate of casualties to date in the nearly nine-month-old conflict. The Guardian could not immediately confirm his estimates.
Milley said the conflict so far had turned anywhere from 15 million to 30 million Ukrainians into refugees, and killed probably 40,000 Ukrainian civilians.
You’re looking at well over 100,000 Russian soldiers killed and wounded. Same thing probably on the Ukrainian side. A lot of human suffering,” Milley said.
Asked about prospects for diplomacy in Ukraine, Milley noted that the early refusal to negotiate in the first world war compounded human suffering and led to millions more casualties.
“So when there’s an opportunity to negotiate, when peace can be achieved ... seize the moment,” Milley told the Economic Club of New York on Wednesday.
Milley on Russia: "Putin has lost a tremendous amount of military capability, and they have suffered a tremendous amount of military loss. I think the Russians have severely underestimated the Ukrainian people." #ECNYMilley pic.twitter.com/Q0VD2wUe5S
— The Economic Club of New York (@EconClubNY) November 10, 2022
What does a Russian retreat from Kherson mean?
On the face of it, Russia’s sheepish yet televised announcement that it will abandon Kherson city and points west of the Dnipro represents a remarkable victory for Ukraine and a sophisticated military strategy.
It has taken a careful three-month campaign to force the Kremlin to conclude it cannot hang on.
Russia has been preparing its exit for a month now, moving command and control across the river and at least some of its experienced forces.
A Ukrainian victory in in the city, one of the main objectives of Kyiv’s southern offensive, would be widely seen as a significant blow to the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, only weeks after a high-profile ceremony in Moscow in which he announced the “forever” annexation of the Kherson region, along with three others.
A Ukrainian liberation of the area would also pose fresh military headaches for Russia’s military commanders, bringing some parts of the Russian-occupied Crimea within range of Ukrainian Himars rocket systems, as well as threatening Russian operations around Melitopol and Mariupol.
It also marks a personal defeat for General Surovikin, a notorious hardline air force officer, who was appointed the first overall commander of Russian forces in Ukraine in October to turn around Russia’s failing war against Ukraine.
Now, Ukraine’s apparent victory could not be more timely as Americans and Europeans worry about high energy costs ultimately caused by the war. The challenge for Kyiv will be to repeat it against Russians who are desperately trying to dig in.
In case you missed this earlier, video of Russian defence minister, Sergei Shoigu, emerged on Wednesday showing the official giving orders to the country’s troops to leave Ukraine’s city of Kherson.
Ukraine responds to Kherson withdrawal with caution
As details of Russian troop movements remain opaque in Kherson, some Ukrainian senior officials have cautioned against celebrating too soon until a fuller picture of the situation on the ground becomes clear.
In his national address on Wednesday night, Volodymyr Zelenskiy urged restraint despite “a lot of joy in the media space today”, saying “The enemy does not bring us gifts, does not make ‘gestures of goodwill’. We fight our way up.”
“And when you are fighting, you must understand that every step is always resistance from the enemy, it is always the loss of the lives of our heroes.
“Therefore, we move very carefully, without emotions, without unnecessary risk. In the interests of the liberation of our entire land and so that the losses are as small as possible.”
Actions speak louder than words. We see no signs that Russia is leaving Kherson without a fight. A part of the ru-group is preserved in the city, and additional reserves are charged to the region. 🇺🇦 is liberating territories based on intelligence data, not staged TV statements.
— Михайло Подоляк (@Podolyak_M) November 9, 2022
Mykhailo Podolyak, a senior adviser to Zelenskiy, said in a statement to Reuters: “Until the Ukrainian flag is flying over Kherson, it makes no sense to talk about a Russian withdrawal.”
He later tweeted: “We see no signs that Russia is leaving Kherson without a fight.”
Oleksiy Arestovych, another senior presidential aide, said Moscow’s intentions remained unclear. “They are moving out but not as much as would be taking place if it was a full pullout or regrouping,” he said in a video posted on Telegram on Wednesday night.
“And for the moment, we don’t know their intentions – will they engage in fighting with us and will they try to hold the city of Kherson? They are moving very slowly,” he added.
Russian troops ordered to retreat from Kherson
The Russian defence minister, Sergei Shoigu, has ordered the country’s troops to leave an area including Ukraine’s city of Kherson, the only regional capital captured by Moscow since the February invasion.
In televised comments, Gen Sergei Surovikin, overall commander of the war, said he had recommended the withdrawal of Russian troops from the west bank of the Dnipro River, citing logistical difficulties.
Kherson cannot be fully supplied and function. Russia did everything possible to ensure the evacuation of the inhabitants of Kherson,” Surovikin told Shoigu.
We will save the lives of our soldiers and fighting capacity of our units. Keeping them on the right [western] bank is futile. Some of them can be used on other fronts,” Surovikin said.
The order to retreat came as Ukrainian forces pressed their attack on Russian positions on the western side of the river, including around the key town of Snihurivka.
While the move had been anticipated to prevent Russian forces being encircled by Ukraine on the western side of the river, the bald admission by Surovikin that Russian forces could not operate effectively comes despite recent efforts by the Kremlin to reinforce the Kherson front at the cost of the giving up large parts of Ukraine’s east.
Summary and welcome
Hello and welcome back to the Guardian’s live coverage of the war in Ukraine. I’m Samantha Lock and I’ll be bringing you all the latest developments as they unfold over the next few hours.
The Russian defence minister, Sergei Shoigu, has ordered the country’s troops to leave an area including Ukraine’s city of Kherson, the only regional capital captured by Moscow since the February invasion. A Ukrainian victory in the city, one of the main objectives of Kyiv’s southern offensive, would be widely seen as a significant blow to the Russian president, Vladimir Putin.
Meanwhile America’s top general and chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Mark Milley estimates that Russia’s military had seen more than 100,000 of its soldiers killed and wounded in Ukraine, adding Kyiv’s armed forces has “probably” suffered a similar level of casualties in the war.
For any updates or feedback you wish to share, please feel free to get in touch via email or Twitter.
If you have just joined us, here are all the latest developments:
The Russian defence minister, Sergei Shoigu, has ordered troops to leave Ukraine’s southern city of Kherson, the only regional capital Moscow had captured since the invasion began. The announcement marks one of Russia’s most significant retreats and a potential turning point in the war. General Sergei Surovikin, in overall command of the war, called it a “very difficult decision”.
While Russia did not formally declare it was abandoning Kherson, all signs point to a Moscow retreat. “Kherson cannot be fully supplied and function,” Surovikin said. “The decision to defend on the left bank of the Dnieper is not easy, at the same time we will save the lives of our military.” Russia had been preparing its exit for the last month, moving command and control across the river.
Ukrainian victory in Kherson will be a significant blow to the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, only weeks after a high-profile ceremony in Moscow in which he announced the “forever” annexation of the Kherson region along with three other regions.
Ukraine reacted with caution, saying some Russian forces were still in Kherson and additional Russian manpower was being sent. “Until the Ukrainian flag is flying over Kherson, it makes no sense to talk about a Russian withdrawal,” said Mykhailo Podolyak, a senior adviser to the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
Joe Biden said Russia’s withdrawal of troops from Kherson was “evidence” that its military had “real problems”. During a White House press conference on Wednesday, the US president said he “knew for some time” it would happen.
The Nato secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, said Russia’s retreat was “part of an overall pattern” demonstrating that Moscow “has absolutely lost the momentum”. “But we should not underestimate Russia, they still have capabilities,” he told Sky News. “We have seen the drones, we have seen the missile attacks. It shows that Russia can still inflict a lot of damage.”
The deputy head of the Russian-installed administration in the Kherson region died in a car crash, state news agencies reported, citing local Russian-backed officials. Kirill Stremousov, previously an anti-vaccine blogger and political marginal, emerged as one of the most prominent public faces of the Russian occupation of Ukraine. Putin posthumously decorated Stremousov with the Order of Courage, the Kremlin said on Wednesday.
Senior UN officials were planning to meet members of a high-level Russian delegation in Geneva on Friday to discuss extending the Ukraine grain deal, a UN spokesperson said. “They will continue ongoing consultations in support of the efforts by the secretary general António Guterres on the full implementation of the two agreements signed on 22 July in Istanbul,” the spokesperson said.
Jens Stoltenberg said Vladimir Putin made “several huge mistakes” when he invaded, including underestimating Nato’s ability to support Ukraine.
The Russian foreign ministry said Moscow had contact with US officials from time to time, and confirmed there would soon be US-Russia consultations on the New Start nuclear arms reduction treaty, the last remaining arms control agreement between the world’s two largest nuclear powers.
