The Russian army withdraws from the city of Cherson. Ukrainian troops advanced to the center of the city. The flight of the Russians ended in chaos. All news about the Ukraine war in the ticker.
4:08 p.m .: According to media reports, there are still some Russians in the city even after the Russian withdrawal from Cherson. “Russians are taking off their military uniforms, throwing them in the bins and trying to mingle with the locals,” Yuriy Sak, an adviser to Ukraine’s defense ministry, told the BBC. “We urge them to surrender, save their lives and not do anything stupid,” he added.
4:05 p.m .: Shortly after the withdrawal of its own troops from the Ukrainian regional capital of Cherson and other places, Russia says it has started attacks on the region that has just been abandoned. “Currently, troops and military equipment of the Ukrainian armed forces are being shelled on the right bank of the Dnipro River,” Russia’s Defense Ministry said on Friday.
Just a few hours earlier, ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov announced that all Russian units in the southern Ukrainian region had been moved to the left bank of the river. According to information from Moscow, there are more than 30,000 soldiers in total who are now stationed south-east of the Dnipro.
The Ukrainian side had already prepared for attacks on the places that had just been recaptured. The press secretary of the southern command of the Ukrainian army, Nataliya Humenyuk, said on television on Friday that the armed forces expected “massive shelling” of Kherson. This is due to the proximity of the Russians’ new line of defense on the opposite bank of the Dnipro, she said.
12:42 p.m.: Ukrainian forces have reportedly reached the center of the city of Kherson. This is reported by the British “Guardian”. The Russian withdrawal is proving increasingly chaotic. A Russian soldier tells the newspaper that some units have been ordered to flee by any means possible.
A member of the Kherson regional council told Reuters that almost the entire city is under the control of Ukrainian forces. Residents are advised to stay home while the search continues for the Russian troops still in the city. Some of them are said to have drowned trying to escape in the Dnipro River.
11:56 a.m .: During their retreat, Russian troops are said to have blown up the important Antonivka Bridge over the Dnipro River, which was recently badly damaged by Ukrainian shelling. It is now finally impassable, according to eyewitness accounts. An initially unverifiable video was shown on social networks, which is said to show a recording of a heavy explosion.
According to a Russian milblogger, the Russians blew up the bridge at 5 a.m. There was artillery fire throughout the night, a resident told the New York Times. Much of the fire appeared to be aimed at Russian convoys attempting to cross the Antonivsky Bridge, the main crossing out of the city.
Several recordings then showed that a section of the bridge was already missing. The bridge connects the two banks of the Dnipro. Other videos show Russian soldiers crossing the river on foot using a pontoon bridge. The massive damage to important bridges meant that Moscow could no longer transport military equipment and food to the Russian-occupied areas west of the river. Residents of the city also report that there were still some Russians in the city.
11:33 a.m.: According to the Russian Defense Ministry, the “regrouping” – i.e. the withdrawal of the armed forces to the east side of the Dnipro River – is complete.
At 05:00 Moscow time today, the transfer of Russian units to the left (east) bank of the Dnipro was completed,” the military said in its daily report.
“Not a single piece of military equipment or weapons was left behind during the transfer. All Russian personnel were transferred, there were no losses of men, equipment or materiel from the Russian Force Group.”
8:55 a.m.: The Russian army blows up important bridges over the Dnipro River while fleeing the Kherson region. This is the result of reports that have not yet been officially confirmed. Accordingly, Putin’s troops severely damaged a railway bridge, as can be seen on drone footage. Two other bridges should also no longer be usable. The fleeing Russian troops are thus trying to make it more difficult for the Ukrainian army to advance towards Crimea.
7:15 a.m .: The military experts at the US Institute for the Study of War (ISW) do not assume that the coming winter will stop the Ukrainian army’s offensive. “There will be no winter standstill,” write the researchers in their daily status report. “Even if some Western observers assume that the advance will slow down.”
The justification of the “ISW” experts: The currently difficult because muddy ground conditions allow the Ukrainian troops to advance more slowly and cause problems for both sides. “For the well-equipped Ukrainians, a frosty terrain could even become an advantage. They might be able to progress more easily than they are now.”
According to the experts, only the poorly equipped Russians will continue to have major difficulties in winter. “The Ukrainian forces will not be stopped.” And when fighting comes to a standstill, it is not because of the winter weather, but because of general logistical challenges or because some fighting is at its peak.
Friday, November 11, 00:52: Ukraine says it has recaptured more than 40 towns and villages in the south of the country from Russia. 41 settlements have been “liberated” from Russian occupation, said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in his daily address on Thursday.
Russia announced on Thursday that it had begun withdrawing its troops from the southern Ukrainian city of Cherson. Kyiv reacted with suspicion to the announcement of the troop withdrawal.
The Cherson region has been the target of a comprehensive Ukrainian counter-offensive for weeks. For Moscow, the region is of great strategic importance in order to be able to continue the offensive in the direction of Mykolaiv and the Black Sea port of Odessa. In addition, Kherson is home to the Kakhovka Dam, which supplies water to the Crimean peninsula annexed by Russia.
After the withdrawal of Russian troops from the Cherson region, Ukrainian soldiers said they had already moved into the first suburb of the southern Ukrainian city on Thursday. As reported by the Ukrainian governor of the Mykolaiv region, Vitaly Kim, the town of Chornobaivka is already under Ukrainian control. He did not want to give any further details. “We remain silent, because all this is a matter for the military.” The General Staff of Ukraine meanwhile said that the Russian military was only slowly withdrawing to strengthen its defense lines on the left bank of the Dnipro.
7.10 p.m .: According to media reports, Russian troops devastated the southern Ukrainian city when they left Cherson. In addition to the television center, district heating systems and radio masts, among other things, were blown up, Ukrajinska Pravda reported on Thursday. In addition, the electricity in the city had failed completely, as had the Internet. Several bridges over the Dnipro had already been blown up in the past few days.
A timetable for the withdrawal of Russian soldiers from Cherson and the entire area around the city on the right bank of the Dnipro, which had been ordered the day before, was not known. According to a report by the Russian agency Tass, units of the police and emergency services should only leave the city with the last troops.
The Ukrainian state agency Unian published a report with photos from villages on the outskirts of the Cherson region that had been liberated by advancing Ukrainian troops. “Destroyed houses, mines and garbage” can be seen everywhere.
2:22 p.m .: After the announced Russian troop withdrawal, Ukrainian troops advanced about seven kilometers in two sectors in the southern Kherson and Mykolaiv regions. About 264 square kilometers and twelve towns were recaptured, said the supreme commander of the armed forces, Valery Saluschnyj, on Thursday in the Telegram news service. Images from the liberated small town of Snihurivka in the Mykolaiv region had previously been circulated.
Since the beginning of October, the Ukrainian units in the Cherson region have advanced up to 36 kilometers and have liberated 1,381 square kilometers and 41 settlements, it said. This was also preceded by a Russian troop withdrawal.
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu announced in Moscow on Wednesday that Russian troops would withdraw completely from the right bank of the Dnipro. Safe supply of the units had become unrealistic after several bridges were damaged by Ukrainian missiles. The Russian army is thus giving up an area of around 4800 square kilometers.
Thursday, November 10, 11:55 a.m.: Ukrainian forces have reported the withdrawal of Russian troops from the occupied town of Snihurivka near Mykolayiv. On a video, which is also shown on state television, the fighters of a reconnaissance battalion speak of having “liberated” the city. Russia yesterday announced the withdrawal of troops from Kherson, also mentioning that it wants to give up the occupation of the city of Snihurivka.
The unverified video shows a group of Ukrainian soldiers apparently being greeted and applauded by civilians. The Ukrainian Ministry of Defense has not yet commented.
4:18 p.m .: Under pressure from Ukrainian counter-offensives, Russia’s troops are withdrawing from a strategically important part of the annexed southern Kherson region. Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu on Wednesday ordered the right bank of the Dnipro River to be cleared, according to Russian state television.
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