Extract from ABC News
Russia's Defence Ministry says it has completed its withdrawal of troops from the key city of Kherson in southern Ukraine.
Key points:
- War bloggers said Russian forces crossing the river were under heavy fire from Ukrainian forces
- Russia said maintaining its position and supplying troops were "futile" in the face of Ukrainian counteroffensive
- A Kremlin spokesperson said Moscow still viewed the Kherson region as part of Russia
In its daily briefing, the ministry said all Russian forces and equipment had been transferred to the eastern bank of the Dnipro River.
It said the withdrawal was completed by 5am on Friday morning (Moscow time).
Russia said it had withdrawn 30,000 troops across the Dnipro River without losing a single soldier.
"Not a single unit of military equipment or weapons have been left on the [western] bank," the ministry said in a statement.
But Ukrainians painted a picture of a chaotic retreat, with Russian soldiers ditching their uniforms, dropping weapons and drowning while trying to flee.
The withdrawal marked the third major Russian retreat of the war and the first to involve yielding such a large occupied city in the face of a major Ukrainian counter-offensive that has retaken swathes of the country's east and south.
Pro-Russian war bloggers had reported late on Thursday (local time) that Russian forces crossing the river were coming under heavy fire from Ukrainian forces.
The ministry said Ukrainian forces had struck Dnipro River crossings five times overnight with US-supplied HIMARS rocket systems.
Russia ordered the withdrawal on Wednesday, saying it had concluded that attempts to maintain its position and supply troops in the region were "futile" in the face of a mounting Ukrainian counteroffensive.
The speed of the withdrawal after Russia abandoned the only regional capital it had captured since its invasion in February was faster than Ukraine and the United States had expected.
Kherson welcomes Ukrainian soldiers
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Friday (local time) said special units of the armed forces were already in the southern city of Kherson following Russia's withdrawal and described the moment as historic.
"Today is a historic day. We are in the process of taking Kherson back," he said in a video address.
"As of now, our defenders are approaching the city. In quite a bit, we are going to enter. But special units are already in the city."
Other Ukrainian forces were stationed on the approaches to the city, he added.
Ukrainian officials have not claimed yet the city was in Ukrainian hands.
Mr Zelenskyy said Russian forces had placed mines in the city and after soldiers entered they would be followed by sappers, rescue workers and energy personnel.
Despite the daunting tasks ahead, "medicine, communications, social services are returning", he said.
"Life is returning."
Moscow's forces still control about 70 per cent of the Kherson region following the retreat.
In Kyiv, celebrations on the capital's main square continued into the night, with people popping wine bottle corks and shouting "Glory to Ukraine".
Some expressed surprise at the speed of events.
In the centre of Kherson, joyous residents welcomed arriving Ukrainian soldiers.
Video footage verified by Reuters showed dozens of people cheering and chanting victory slogans in the southern Ukrainian city's central square, where the apparent first Ukrainian troops to arrive snapped selfies in the throng.
Two men hoisted a female soldier on their shoulders and tossed her into the air.
Some residents wrapped themselves in Ukrainian flags. One man was weeping with joy.
Ukraine's defence intelligence agency said Kherson was being restored to Ukrainian control and ordered any remaining Russian troops to surrender to Kyiv's forces entering the city.
“Your command left you to the mercy of fate … Your commanders urge you to change into civilian clothes and try to escape from Kherson on your own. Obviously, you won’t be able to,” the intelligence statement read.
The Russian Defence Ministry said it had adopted "defensive lines and positions" on the eastern bank of the river, which Moscow hopes it will be able to better supply and defend.
Initially sceptical over Russia's withdrawal plans, Kyiv reclaimed dozens of towns and settlements that Russian troops had abandoned over 48 hours.
The withdrawal marks one of Russia's biggest retreats in its nine-month war, after failing in an initial advance on the capital Kyiv and being ousted from the north-eastern Kharkiv region in early September.
But Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday that Russia remained committed to achieving the goals of what Moscow calls its "special military operation", and said the Kremlin still viewed the Kherson region as "part of Russia".
President Vladimir Putin proclaimed Kherson — and three other regions of Ukraine — to be part of Russia in a ceremony on September 30.
Ukraine, its Western allies and an overwhelming majority of countries at the UN General Assembly have condemned the declared annexations as illegal.
Ukraine wary of Russian withdrawal
Serhiy Khlan, from the Kherson Regional Council, said a Ukrainian flag had been raised in the city of Kherson following Russia's announcement that it was withdrawing its troops.
But he said some Russian soldiers had been unable to leave the city and had changed into civilian clothing.
"The number of these people is not known," he told a news briefing, without citing evidence for the assertion.
He urged local residents to stay at home while Ukrainian troops cleared the city.
Natalia Humeniuk, a spokesperson for the Ukrainian military's southern command, said Russian troops "have been changing into civilian clothes for two weeks".
"This should focus our forces as it means saboteur operations cannot be ruled out," she told a separate briefing.
"Because of this, we are not rushing to announce our successes in other directions and in other towns."
Mr Khlan also said, without citing evidence, that many Russian troops had drowned attempting to flee across the river.
Russia did not immediately comment on Mr Khlan's or Ms Humeniuk's remarks.
Mr Khlan said Russian troops had blown up the Antonivskiy Bridge connecting the west and east banks of the Dnipro after retreating, and that they had also blown up a power plant.
Ukraine's public broadcaster quoted local residents on Friday as saying the bridge had collapsed, and published a photograph showing whole sections of the bridge missing.
Sergei Yeliseyev, a Russian-installed official in the Kherson region, told the Interfax news agency that “the Antonivskiy Bridge hasn’t been blown up, it’s in the same condition".
Reuters could not immediately determine what had caused the bridge's collapse.
Missiles strike Mykolaiv
From its forces' new positions on the eastern bank, however, the Kremlin could try to escalate the war, which US assessments showed may already have killed or wounded tens of thousands of civilians and hundreds of thousands of soldiers.
A Russian S-300 missile strike overnight killed seven people in Mykolaiv, a city about 68 kilometres from Kherson's regional capital, Mr Zelenskyy's office said Friday morning.
Rescue crews sifted through the rubble of a five-story residential building in search of survivors.
Standing in front of what used to be his family's apartment, Roman Mamontov, 16, awaited news about his missing mother.
He said he found "nothing there" when he opened an apartment door to look for his mother after the missile struck.
Friday was her 34th birthday, the teenager said.
"My mind was blank at that moment. I thought it could not be true," he said. "The cake she prepared for the celebration is still there."
Mr Zelenskyy called the missile strike "the terrorist state's cynical response to our successes at the front".
"Russia does not give up its despicable tactics. And we will not give up our struggle. The occupiers will be held to account for every crime against Ukraine and Ukrainians," Mr Zelenskyy said.
The Russian Defence Ministry didn't acknowledge striking a residential building in Mykolaiv, saying only that an ammunition depot was destroyed "in the area of the city".
The president's office said Russian drones, rockets and heavy artillery strikes across eight regions killed at least 14 civilians between Thursday morning and Friday morning.
Reuters/AP
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