EA on RTE and Times Radio: The Turning Point in the Ukraine War — Russia’s Defeat in Kherson City

Friday’s Coverage: Ukrainian Troops Liberate Kherson City

Source: Institute for the Study of War

UPDATE 2104 GMT:

In his nightly address to the nation, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said stabilization measures are being implemented in Kherson city; however, an extensive recovery is needed.

Before fleeing from Kherson, the occupiers destroyed all the critical infrastructure: communications, water, heat, electricity.

[Russians] everywhere have the same goal: to humiliate people as much as possible. But we will restore everything, believe me.

Zelenskiy said more than 60 settlements have been liberated in the Kherson region this month.

UPDATE 2100 GMT:

The enthusiastic greetings of international journalists are not just in Kherson city —- residents of the village of Blahodatne welcome Reuters correspondents, “We have been waiting for you for so long.”

UPDATE 1515 GMT:

Vladimir Solovyov, a leading polemicist on Russian State TV and radio, is filled with angst over the retreat from Kherson, “We still can’t grasp that the goal of this war is our destruction”:

UPDATE 1501 GMT:

The Russian air force has reportedly moved helicopters from an airfield in the Kherson region because they are now vulnerable to attack by advancing Ukrainian forces.

The helicopters had been positioned in the town of Chaplynka for the past eight months. They can now be targeted by US-supplied HIMARS medium-range rocket systems, which have a range of 90 kms (56 miles).

UPDATE 1352 GMT:

The latest Russian attacks across the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine have killed two civilians and injured four.

UPDATE 1350 GMT:

Ukraine Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has tweeted after his meeting with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Cambodia today:

UPDATE 1346 GMT:

Footage of Russia’s destruction of the bridge over the Dnipro River near the Khakhova Dam, as the retreating troops blow up all crossing points to prevent Ukrainian pursuit in the eastern Kherson region:

UPDATE 1339 GMT:

Facing the defeat of its invasion, Russia is holding out against a renewal of the July deal allowing exports from Ukraine’s Black Sea ports.

After a “thorough exchange of views” with UN officials on Friday in Geneva, Moscow declared that there must be removal of sanctions to ensure unhindered access to world markets for its food and fertilizer exports.

Russian officials specifically demanded a restoration of access to the SWIFT payments system for agricultural lender Rosselkhozbank.

The deal, brokered by the UN and Turkey, expires on November 19. More than 10 million tons of grain and other agricultural products have been exported since Russia ended a five-month blockade.

A UN statement after Friday’s meeting said participants “remain engaged in the implementation of the Black Sea Grain Initiative and held constructive discussions on its continuation”.

UPDATE 1225 GMT:

Journalists of UK and US outlets are welcomed by celebrating residents in Kherson city:

ORIGINAL ENTRY: Ukrainian forces have liberated Kherson city in southern Ukraine, ending an 8-month Russian occupation and signalling the defeat of Vladimir Putin’s invasion.

Troops were greeted by celebrating crowds as they entered the city center, following the Russian retreat across the Dnipro River to the eastern Kherson region.

Residents wrapped themselves in Ukrainian flags and cried with joy. Men put a female soldier on their shoulders and tossed her into the air, chanting “Glory to the ZSU [Ukraine’s armed forces].” Drivers honked their car horns.

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy hailed the “historic day” and the people of Kherson city who “never lost hope”

They never gave up on Ukraine. Hope for Ukraine is always justified – and Ukraine always returns its own….

And even when the city is not yet completely cleansed of the enemy’s presence, the people of Kherson themselves are already removing Russian symbols from the streets and buildings and any traces of the occupiers’ stay in Kherson.

A Chaotic Retreat

Kyiv had expressed caution on Tuesday after the announcement of the Russian withdrawal by Defense Minister Sergey Shoygu and the commander of the invasion, Gen. Sergey Surovikin. Zelenskiy and his commanders said it was necessary to move carefully because the Russians might stage a last stand.

But in the end, the Russian forces fled, scrambling to cross the river and blowing up bridges to prevent Ukrainian pursuit. The Russian Defense Ministry proclaimed the completion of the withdrawal early Friday, with no troops or equipment lost. Russian fighters on social media told a different story, describing chaos. One said on camera that troops had been told to escape any way they could, with advice to change into civilian clothing:

Everything I’ve been saying has happened. Those trying to find justification for this…you can tell them to go fuck themselves. Those who think everything will be fine next, tell them to go fuck themselves.

Reports circulated of wounded Russian soldiers being abandoned and taken prisoner as Ukrainian forces shelled the troops crossing the Dnipro. A Ukrainian official that some of the retreating invaders drowned.

The Ukrainian military pointed to the next stage of its counter-offensive, saying it had established fire control over all routes from Kherson south to Crimea, occupied by Russia since 2014.

North of Kherson city, an armoured column of 40 Ukrainian vehicles, including several T-72 tanks, headed up the Dnipro towards the Kakhovka hydroelectric plant and the occupied city of Nova Kakhovka.

But Ukraine Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov damped down any expectations of a rapid advance through the remaining occupied areas. He said Russia might try to bolster units in the neighboring Zaporizhzhia region.

The Minister told Ukraine’s soldiers, “The winter will slow down every activity on the battlefield for all sides….You will have a rest,” he said.

We will use this time with a maximum result for our armed forces, for regrouping, for refreshing and for rotation and we will prepare them well.

In Moscow, Vladimir Putin continued to make no comment. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov denied the retreat was a humiliation, following Putin’s declaration on September 21 of the “annexation” of the Kherson region and others in Ukraine’s south and east.

A Russia proxy official said the new “capital” of the Kherson region is Henichesk, a port city on the sea of Azov near the border with Crimea.