Kherson IS back in Ukraine hands….
Here’s what we know:
People in Kherson, who endured months of Russian occupation, greeted the arriving Ukrainian troops with cheers and flags.
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Ukrainian forces sweep into Kherson as Russia says its retreat is complete.
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Jubilation greets Ukrainian soldiers sweeping into Kherson.
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Satellite images show damage to a major dam in Kherson.
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Outside Kherson, abandoned clothes, food and ammunition are signs of a hasty Russian withdrawal.
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An explosion on a crucial bridge severed Kherson City’s last major crossing.
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Russian media, all state-controlled, offers only muted coverage of the retreat from Kherson.
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Why is control of Kherson so important?
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In battered Mykolaiv, a Russian strike kills 7…..
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In phone and text message interviews, residents said the emotional moment harked back to March 13, 1944 — the day the city was liberated from Nazi forces. But the sense of newfound freedom was also offset by uncertainty and fear.
Here’s the latest on the war and its ripple effects across the globe.
- Although “the city is not yet completely cleansed of the enemy’s presence, the people of Kherson themselves are already removing Russian symbols and any traces of the occupiers’ stay in Kherson from the streets and buildings,” Zelensky said, calling on any lingering Russian forces to surrender.
- Russia’s Defense Ministry said Friday that the last Russian soldiers had safely left. But it was not possible to verify Moscow’s claims of an orderly pullback with no fighters or weapons left behind, and there were some reports of Russian troops struggling to escape to the east bank of the Dnieper under heavy Ukrainian bombardment.
- Ukrainian officials have accused departing Russian forces of destroying infrastructure and looting museums on their way out. Videos and photographs posted Nov. 11 and verified by The Post showed that sections of the strategic Antonovsky Bridge had collapsed. The bridge, which connects Kherson city with Russian-held territory in the south, had previously been targeted by rocket attacks. But satellite imagery captured by Planet Labs on Thursday afternoon showed that it was not missing major sections, indicating new structural damage had occurred in the last day.
- World leaders expressed support for Ukraine’s efforts to recapture Kherson, including French President Emmanuel Macron and British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly. In a tweet on Friday, Cleverly said the recapture of the city showed “the strength, resilience and courage of the Ukrainian people.”
- Zelensky described a monumental task ahead in the city of Kherson. “The occupiers left a lot of mines and explosives, in particular on vital objects,” he said. “We will restore all conditions of normal life — as much as possible.”
- At least six people have been killed in a Russian attack on a residential building in the southern Mykolaiv region, a regional official said early Friday, while three others were injured. President Volodymyr Zelensky described the attack as a “cynical response to our successes at the front.”
- Russian attacks on Ukrainian energy facilities in recent weeks have “disproportionately” affected civilians, Britain said Friday. The waves of attacks, which began Oct. 10, are “impacting critical functions such as health care and heating,” the country’s Defense Ministry said, with blackouts becoming routine in parts of Ukraine including the capital, Kyiv. The choice to target energy infrastructure, and the likely impact on civilians as winter approaches, appears to be aimed at undermining “civilian morale,” the update added.
- Ukrainian forces continued to advance in the Mykolaiv region in Ukraine’s south. The area is largely under Ukrainian control, regional military administrator Vitaliy Kim said in a statement Friday…
image….Credit…Lynsey Addario for The New York Times