On Friday, when Russian soldiers hastily withdrew, Ukrainian forces occupied Kherson.
To greet the Ukrainian army, villagers emerged from concealment and told terrifying tales of Russian soldiers slaughtering civilians and pillaging homes.
The city was virtually entirely under the hands of Ukrainian forces, according to Serhiy Khlan, deputy for the Kherson Regional Council.
Videos of Ukrainian troops erecting yellow and blue flags in the city amid celebrations have been spreading on social media.
“It’s a momentous day today.
Kherson and the southern part of the nation are returning to us “Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the president of Ukraine, stated in a video message on Friday night.
Ukrainian forces would begin working as quickly as possible to remove the landmines, according to Zelenskyy, who said that Russian forces had planted what he called a substantial number of them throughout the city.
On Friday, Russia announced that the withdrawal of its forces from the west bank of the Dnipro River was complete and that no personnel nor equipment had been left behind.
But the Russian forces’ retreat offered a different picture.
A Russian soldier recalled being ordered to quickly change into civilian clothes so they wouldn’t be noticed, along with his fellow soldiers.
A few of the troops who were fleeing also allegedly perished while attempting to cross the river.
The Intelligence Directorate of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry declared that for any Russian soldiers who did not escape the city, “the only opportunity to avoid death is to quickly surrender.”
After Russian soldiers invaded Ukraine on February 24, Kherson, a vital port city on the Dnipro River, was taken within a short period of time.
Moscow said on Wednesday that it had made the “painful choice” to leave Kherson’s portion of the river’s west bank.
The news of a speedy Russian pullout from Kherson broke earlier than expected by Western authorities.
The withdrawal will take “days and maybe even weeks,” according to Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman U.S. Army General
Oleksiy Reznikov, the defense minister of Ukraine, had also voiced doubt that Russia could retreat so soon, worried that Russia may set up a trap to pull Ukrainian soldiers into bloody urban warfare.
Kherson has been a crucial strategic area for Russia, serving as a land link from the country to Crimea, the peninsula that Moscow annexed in 2014.
Kherson is one of the four provinces that Russian President Vladimir Putin asserted to have annexed in September. This action has been criticized as illegitimate by the US and other nations.
According to Reznikov, this week’s governmental takeovers of privately owned holdings in vital enterprises are a part of Ukraine’s strategy to develop a strong military and defense industry.
According to Reznikov, Ukraine is constructing a “army of drones” to stave against a Russian invasion. Moscow has recently been firing waves of “kamikaze” drones—made in Iran—at crucial Ukrainian infrastructure.
In an interview with a Ukrainian publication on Thursday, he stated, “We are attempting to be like Israel — more autonomous for the coming years. “Developing their national industry for their armed forces, in my opinion, is Israel’s finest response. It gave them independence “said he.
Black Sea grain project
Martin Griffiths, the U.N. undersecretary-general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief coordinator, and Rebeca Grynspan, the secretary-general of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, met with a Russian delegation on Friday in Geneva to discuss Moscow’s complaints regarding the Black Sea grains export initiative and to address these concerns.
A U.N. spokesperson said Rebeca Grynspan, the secretary-general of the U.N. Conference on Trade and Development, and Martin Griffiths, the undersecretary-general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief coordinator, met with a Russian delegation on Friday in Geneva to discuss Moscow’s complaints about the Black Sea grains export initiative and to address the need for unrestricted food and fertilizer exports.
The talks take place eight days before the United Nations and Turkey-mediated agreement is scheduled to be extended. As a result of the agreement, food and fertilizer may now be exported from a number of Ukrainian Black Sea ports, preventing a worldwide food catastrophe.
The talks take place eight days before the United Nations and Turkey-mediated agreement is scheduled to be extended. As a result of the agreement, food and fertilizer may now be exported from several Ukrainian Black Sea ports, preventing a worldwide food catastrophe.
Following a meeting with a Russian team in Geneva on Friday, U.N. officials said that the first shipment of donated fertilizers is anticipated to leave for Malawi in the upcoming week.
The U.N. called on all parties to remove all remaining obstacles to the export and delivery of fertilizers to countries most in need as soon as possible. “The world cannot afford to let global fertilizer accessibility difficulties become a worldwide food shortage,” the U.N. warned.
Before the meeting, Dmitry Peskov, a spokesman for the Kremlin, told reporters that “work is under way” to address a number of the Russian government’s concerns with the grain agreement.
Moscow has hinted that if its concerns are not addressed, it may leave the agreement, which is slated to expire on Nov. 19.
Last month, in reaction to a drone attack on Moscow’s fleet in Crimea, which it attributed to Ukraine, Russia temporarily ceased its involvement.
Kyiv has not accepted liability and denies utilizing the security corridor for the grain program for military objectives.
Five inbound vessels traveled the maritime humanitarian corridor toward Ukrainian ports, according to the Joint Coordination Center, while four vessels departed Ukrainian ports on Friday delivering 120,150 metric tons of grain and other food goods as part of the Black Sea Grain Initiative.
Cost of war
Since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, hundreds have died, millions have been displaced, and Ukrainian cities and infrastructure have been damaged.
More than 7.6 million Ukrainians were displaced from their homes, including 2.85 million in Russia, according to the United Nations agency for refugees in mid-October.
Another 7 million individuals, according to the report, have left Ukraine.
According to Stephanie Tremblay, an associate U.N. spokesman, “help workers have delivered crucial relief and protection services to almost 13.5 million people across all regions of Ukraine” since February.
According to Reuters, Milley estimated late on Wednesday that around 200,000 soldiers — 100,000 Russian and 100,000 Ukrainian forces — have been killed in the combat thus far. According to Milley, there have also been roughly 40,000 deaths of people caught up in the battle.
Some information in this report came from The Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse.
