November 11, 2022 Russia-Ukraine news

Our live coverage for the day has ended. Follow the latest Ukraine news here or read through the updates below.?

Two Ukrainian soldiers wait for evacuation at a medical point in the area of Svatove and Kreminna, Luhansk region, on November 4.

Fierce fighting continues in the Luhansk region of eastern Ukraine, where there are high numbers of newly mobilized Russian troops, according to a Ukrainian?official.

Roman Vlasenko, head of Severodonetsk district military administration, told Ukrainian television that there were three major frontlines running north-south in Luhansk.

Vlasenko said that Ukrainian forces were making some progress around the town of Svatove, and further north.

He said that “active hostilities” are ongoing along the entire frontline in the Luhansk region.

Ukrainian forces were advancing west and south of Svatove and Russian ammunition depots were being destroyed, he said.

There was a high concentration of new Russian troops in the towns of Kreminna, Rubizhne, Severodonetsk and Lysychansk, Vlasenko said.

All four towns and cities are south of Svatove and were captured by the Russians in the spring and summer after intense conflict and widespread destruction.

Ukrainian forces are now within a few miles of all four places, he said.

During internal conversations about the war in Ukraine, America’s top general, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley, has in recent weeks led a strong push to seek a diplomatic solution as fighting heads toward a winter lull.?

But Milley’s position is not widely backed by President Biden’s national security team, including Secretary of State Tony Blinken and National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, neither of whom believe it’s time to make a serious push for talks over Ukraine, according to two administration officials familiar with the discussion.

The result is a growing debate inside the administration over whether Ukraine’s recent gains on the battlefield should spark a renewed effort to seek some sort of negotiated end to the fighting, according to officials.?

Milley’s push for peace has spilled into the public in recent days, just as Ukraine takes back the city of Kherson. In comments at the Economic Club of New York on Wednesday, Milley praised the Ukrainian army for fighting Russia to a stalemate, but said that an outright military victory is out of reach.????

The comments left administration officials unsurprised — given Milley’s advocacy for the position internally — but also raised concern among some about the administration appearing divided in the eyes of the Kremlin.?

While some Biden officials are more open to exploring what diplomacy may look like, sources tell CNN most of the top diplomatic and national security officials are wary of giving Russian President Vladimir Putin any sort of leverage at the negotiating table and believe Ukrainians must determine when to hold talks, not the US.?

“That’s up to the Ukrainians. Nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine,” President Biden said at a Wednesday press conference when asked about the potential for talks.??

In internal deliberations, officials say Milley has sought to make it clear that he is not urging a Ukrainian capitulation, but rather that he believes now is an optimal time to drive toward an end to the war before it drags into spring or beyond, leading to more death and destruction without changing the front lines, officials say.?

Milley’s position comes as the US military has dug deep into US weapons stockpiles to support the Ukrainians and is currently scouring the globe for materials to support Ukraine heading into winter — such as heaters and generators — which has raised concerns about how long this war can be sustained, officials said.???

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A Ukrainian serviceman speaks with a chaplain while a local resident rides a bicycle along a street, in a village near the newly recaptured city of?Snihurivka, Mykolaiv region, on Thursday.

Ukrainian authorities are beginning the hard work of rebuilding in territories recently liberated in their southern counteroffensive.

The head of the regional military administration of Mykolaiv, which neighbors Kherson, visited the small city of Snihurivka Friday to discuss “the restoration of life in the liberated territories of the region.”

He commended hospital staff in the city for working through the Russian occupation.

He also urged locals to beware of any explosives left behind by the Russians.

“Despite the fact that the relevant services have already started (removing mines in) the liberated territories, I warn local residents to be careful,” Kim added.

A close-up satellite image shows damage to the Antonivskyi vehicle bridge on the Dnipro River, Kherson region.

At least seven bridges — four of them crossing the Dnipro River — have been destroyed in the last 24 hours, according to satellite images from Maxar Technologies and other photos.

Two bridges, a vehicle and a railroad bridge that sit atop a dam at Nova Kakhovka were among those destroyed.?

In recent months, Ukrainian strikes on and near the bridge had badly damaged the Antonivskyi vehicle bridge, located just southeast of the city of Kherson, but the latest damage completely destroyed a number of roadway sections. Additionally, the Antonivskyi railroad bridge, located just east of the vehicle bridge, was also ruined.?

Another bridge, which crosses the Inhulets River at?Darivka, was also destroyed.?

Finally, two bridges — a highway and a pedestrian bridge — were wrecked in the village of?Tyahinka.?That village is located just 14 miles east of the dam at Nova Kakhovka.?

It’s unclear who is responsible for the destruction of the bridges, but they come as Russian military forces retreated from the west bank of the Dnipro in the Kherson region.?

#Kherson#

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Friday has been “a historic day” for Ukraine after Russia announced its withdrawal from the west bank of the Kherson region.

“We are returning the south of our country, we are returning Kherson,” Zelensky said.

The president talked about the appearance of Ukrainian flags in the city even before the military arrived, saying, “I am happy to see how people, despite all the threats, despite the repressions, abuse of the occupiers, kept Ukrainian flags, believed in Ukraine.”

Zelensky expressed his gratitude to the military units involved in the operation — “absolutely everyone, from privates to generals, the Armed Forces, intelligence, the Security Service of Ukraine, the National Guard — all those who brought this day closer for Kherson region.”

He said stabilization measures would follow due to the threat of mines. “The occupiers left a lot of mines and explosives, in particular at vital facilities. We will be clearing them,”?he said.

Zelensky repeated what Ukraine’s Intelligence Directorate said earlier Friday, appealing to any Russian soldiers still on the west bank to surrender.

“We guarantee that you will be treated in accordance with the law and international standards. And to those Russian military who disguised themselves in civilian clothes and are hiding somewhere, I want to say that you cannot hide. We will find you anyway. Do not delay.”

As Ukrainian forces consolidate their hold on the western part of the Kherson region, officials have warned residents not to try to return home too soon.

“More and more settlements are returning under the Ukrainian flag,” the head of Kherson’s regional military administration, Yaroslav Yanushevych, said in a video.

Ukrainian officials have also been posting video of Russian armor left behind, despite the insistence of the Russian Defense Ministry that all equipment had been taken to the east bank.

Ukrainian Infrastructure minister Oleksandr Kubrakov said plans were underway to?restore transportation connections with the liberated territories of Kherson.

The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said that “in the course of successful offensive actions, advanced units of our troops in some places have already reached the right bank of the Dnipro river. Measures to detect and eliminate the enemy in a number of settlements continue.”

In its operational note late Friday, the General Staff said that Russian forces were “improving the fortification equipment of defensive borders on the left [east] bank of the Dnipro” and in Crimea.

Elsewhere on the front lines The military said that , Russian forces continued offensive actions in parts of Donetsk, including in Bakhmut, Avdiivka and Novopavlivka.

It claimed that Ukrainian fire had inflicted heavy casualties on a Russian control point near the city of Enerhodar, which is next to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant. “More than 50 occupiers were killed and more than 40 were wounded,” it said.

A satellite image shows the extent of damage on the Nova Kakhovka dam in the Kherson region.

New damage has been inflicted on a critical dam that spans the Dnipro River at Nova Kakhovka in the Kherson region?in the last 24 hours, according to satellite images from Maxar Technologies obtained by CNN.

Water is flowing out of three sluice gates at the dam, where a major hydro-electric project is situated.?

It’s unclear how the latest damage, which is close to the west bank, was caused. Local Telegram channels reported Thursday night the sound of explosions around the dam.

The sluice gates under the destroyed sections of the bridge are the only ones releasing water, but it’s?unclear from the satellite images whether they were damaged in the explosion and whether the?release of water is controlled or impeded by the collapsed sections of bridge.

A photo, which appeared on social media on Friday afternoon, showed water flowing from the corners of the sluice gates and the missing bridge sections. CNN geolocated and confirmed the authenticity of the photo, which was taken from the southern bank of the Dnipro River.

Although Ukrainian armed forces have liberated large swathes of territory in Kherson, they do not appear they have taken control of the dam at Nova Kakhovka.

Ukrhydroenergo, which operates the hydro-electric plant, said it had not heard of fresh damage to the dam and was unable to offer further comment.

The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant upstream uses the water in the dam’s reservoir to cool its nuclear reactors. The reservoir holds about 18 million cubic meters of water.

On Oct. 21, Ukrainian Defense Intelligence claimed that Russian forces had begun mining the sluice gates and supports at the dam. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky also made similar claims in a national speech on Oct. 20.?

At the time, Russian-appointed officials in Kherson dismissed the claims as “nonsense.”

Ukraine has acknowledged that its forces carried out attacks on the Russian fleet and harbor at Sevastopol in Crimea at the end of last month.

A government crowdfunding platform said that “on October 29, 2022, naval drones hit Russian ships, [in an operation] carried out exclusively by unmanned devices.”

The platform said that “small and fast” drones had damaged three Russian vessels, including the Admiral Makarov, a frigate warship that is also the flagship of the Russian Black Sea Fleet.

Russian authorities acknowledged damage to a minesweeper but not to any other naval vessel. There has been no independent confirmation that the Makarov was seriously damaged.

The crowdfunding site said its goal was “to assemble a fleet of 100 such vessels. They will defend the waters of our seas, stop Russian ships carrying missiles from leaving the bay, protect merchant ships, and perform secret missions.”

It estimated the cost of each naval drone at $250,000.

A Ukrainian multiple rocket launcher vehicle drives along a road in?Kherson Oblast on Friday.

The Russian Defense Ministry reiterated that all Russian troops have been withdrawn from the west bank of the Kherson region as of early Friday, as Ukrainians celebrate the retreat.

Here’s what we know now:

Russia claims full withdrawal: Russia again said that all its troops and equipment have been withdrawn from the west bank of the Kherson region as of early Friday.

The defense ministry claimed that “not a single piece of military equipment or weapons have been left on the right bank.” But social media video shows Russian tanks, armored vehicles and crates of ammunition displayed by Ukrainian troops.?

Ukrainian officials have also warned that some Russian troops?may have remained behind in civilian clothing, saying that any Russian soldiers remaining on the west bank?should surrender immediately to “avoid death.”

Russia ceded about 40% of the region: Russian forces have given up about 40% of the Kherson region, which straddles the Dnipro River, within a few days, after being ordered to withdraw to the east bank of the Dnipro by the country’s defense ministry on Wednesday.

Altogether, Ukraine has reclaimed some 10,000 square kilometers of territory in the Kherson region.

“Ours. Kherson is ours.”: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky commented on the Russian retreat with a video of celebrations in the city of Kherson.

Ukrainian troops retake village: The Ukrainian Armed Forces have retaken another part of the Kherson region — the village of Tyahinka, near the strategic town of Nova Kakhovka — despite Russian forces destroying bridges?on their way out. A number of photos, also geolocated and authenticated by CNN, show that the Ukrainian forces were able to make their way into the village despite the main highway’s bridge and a pedestrian bridge being destroyed by the Russians as they withdrew.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky posted nighttime video of celebrations in Kherson city, now liberated by Ukrainian troops.

Amid waving flags, a crowd chants “ZSU,” the Ukrainian acronym for the armed forces.?

A statement from the Russian Defense Ministry reiterated that all Russian troops have been withdrawn from the west bank of the Kherson region as of early Friday.

“All personnel, weapons and military equipment of the group have been withdrawn to the left [east] bank. In total, more than 30 thousand Russian military personnel, about 5 thousand pieces of weapons and military equipment, as well as material property were withdrawn,” according to the statement

But social media video suggests otherwise, with Russian tanks, armored vehicles and crates of ammunition displayed by Ukrainian troops.?

Ukraine also urged any Russian soldiers remaining on the west bank to surrender immediately. And officials warned some Russian troops may have remained behind in civilian clothing.

Ukraine has asserted that it carried out attacks against Russian troop concentrations that were withdrawing, but the Russian Defense Ministry said that “despite the attempts of the enemy to disrupt the transfer of Russian troops, no losses among personnel, weapons, military equipment and materiel were allowed. The group’s Russian air defense and electronic warfare systems repulsed all attempts to deliver missile strikes.”

The ministry also claimed that the Ukrainian advance had been held back for several days. “Russian artillery fire, air strikes and the use of minefields stopped the units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine at a distance of 30-40 kilometers from the area of crossings over the [Dnipro] River,” it said.

“Currently, the accumulations of manpower and military equipment of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on the right bank of the [Dnipro] are being hit by fire,” the ministry said.?

Ukraine has not reported any incoming fire from the east bank Friday but said a missile attack on the city of Mykolaiv, close to the border with Kherson, killed multiple people early Friday.

Ukrainian officials have been celebrating the liberation of Kherson city and the west bank of the region.

Yuriy Sobolevskyi, first deputy head of Kherson regional council, said on Telegram: “Kherson is unbreakable! Today free people were able to come to Svobody (Freedom) Square with the flags of Ukraine again, as it was when the enemy captured the city.”

Sobolevskyi recalled that when he was in Russian-occupied territory, “I always wrote that every day we are one day closer to our freedom! And this day for Kherson has come today! No one can break us and intimidate us! Kherson is Ukraine!”

The Ukrainian military’s Operational Command South suggested that the Russian withdrawal to the east bank was not yet complete, although there have been no reports of Russian forces still on the west bank Friday.?

In Facebook and Telegram messages on Friday afternoon local time, it said that “the enemy continues regrouping and moving troops to the left [east] bank of the Dnipro river….The occupiers keep on with looting the settlements they are retreating from. They are inflicting maximum damage to transport infrastructure as well as critical infrastructure.”

The military command added that Ukrainian units “performed a fire mission area overnight, including aiming at enemy military convoys and concentration of enemy units. Final data is being clarified.”

Russian forces destroyed a bridge on the road out of Tyahinka, Ukraine, on November 11.

Ukrainian armed forces have retaken another part of the Kherson region — the village of Tyahinka, near the strategic town of Nova Kakhovka — despite Russian forces destroying bridges on their way out.

A video circulating on social media Friday, geolocated and authenticated by CNN, shows Ukrainian troops being greeted by residents on the main highway in Tyahinka. The village is just 20 kilometers (about 14 miles) west of the hydroelectric dam and bridges that stretch across the Dnipro River at Nova Kakhovka.

A number of photos, also geolocated and authenticated by CNN, show that the Ukrainian forces were able to make their way into the village despite the main highway’s bridge and a pedestrian bridge being destroyed by the Russians as they withdrew.

Those bridges cross the Tyahinka River, which flows into the Dnipro River.

Russia is pulling its troops back to the Dnipro’s eastern bank, allowing the Ukrainians to reclaim territory west of the river.

Kira Rudik, a member of Ukrainian parliament, told CNN that the retreat of Russian forces from the southern city of Kherson has prompted “so much crying of happiness.”

“Today is a historic?date.?We will remember it because we?are liberating the regional?center Kherson that was captured?at the beginning the invasion.?And … not too many?people believe this would be?taken back.?… People are so happy, they are chanting, and I?can tell you there is so much?crying of happiness.?Because when nobody believed that we?would be able to do that,?Kherson is Ukraine, and it’s?being liberated today,” she told CNN’s Jim Sciutto.

Rudik cautioned that the pullback of Russian troops from Kherson should be called a retreat and not a withdrawal.

It is the “result of intense fighting and strategic actions by Ukrainian army and the support?of our allies.?Nothing is given in this war.?It’s always a measure of pain,?death and incredible resolve and push of Ukrainian soldiers,” she said.

When asked about possible negotiations to end the war, Rudik said Ukraine requires security guarantees.

“The question?remains the same: How can we trust that?[Russian President Vladimir] Putin will not attack us tomorrow,?or in a year or in five years??Because the main thing that we?owe to our children, to the next?generation, that they wouldn’t?have to fight this war again and?again and again,” Rudik said. ?

A Ukrainian service member stands next to a previously captured Russian armoured personnel carried in the village of Blahodatne, retaken by the Ukrainian Armed Forces a day ago in the?Kherson?region, Ukraine, on November 11.

Ukrainian forces have advanced through much of the Kherson region Friday, apparently encountering little or no resistance.

Social media videos from towns and villages throughout the region’s west bank show troops being greeted by civilians.?

Ukrainian troops have also been seen in the middle of Kherson city amid scenes of jubilation. But crowds have been relatively small, reflecting the fact that many residents had left and perhaps that others are wary that the Russians might strike the city now they have left.

Ukrainian forces advanced Friday toward Kherson city, the only regional capital captured by Russian forces since the start of the invasion in February, on several fronts — and now have control of almost the entire west bank of the Dnipro River.

Russian forces have ceded about 40% of the Kherson region, which straddles the Dnipro, within a few days, after being ordered to withdraw to the east bank of the Dnipro by the country’s defense ministry on Wednesday.

Altogether, Ukraine has reclaimed some 10,000 square kilometers of territory in the Kherson region.

It’s unclear whether any Russian troops remain on the west bank. The Russian ministry has said the withdrawal is complete.

Now that Ukrainian forces have recaptured Kherson as far as the Dnipro river, the two sides face each other across the river over a distance of some 250 kilometers — from the area around the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant to the edge of the Black Sea.?

Ukraine’s Intelligence Directorate has appealed to any Russian soldiers still on the west bank of the Kherson region to surrender.

In a message on its Telegram channel, the Intelligence Directorate said, “Russian soldiers! As expected, after the retreat of the main group of troops of the Russian army from the Ukrainian Kherson, 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 message continues:?

The directorate told any remaining Russian soldiers that immediately surrendering is the “only chance to avoid death.”

“In case of voluntary surrender, Ukraine guarantees you the preservation of life and safety. We comply with the Geneva Conventions, guarantee prisoners of war food, medical care and the possibility of your exchange for servicemen of the Ukrainian Armed Forces held captive in the Russian Federation,” it said.?

It encouraged Russian soldiers to contact a Ukrainian hotline called “I Want To Live.”

In a huge setback for the Kremlin, Russian troops withdrew from the Kherson region west of the Dnipro River, and images geolocated by CNN show Ukrainian forces are entering the key southern regional capital city.

Here’s what we know so far:

Russian retreat from Kherson: All Russian troops have left the key Ukrainian city of Kherson, the country’s defense ministry said, confirming a humiliating retreat for Moscow.

The main bridge — the Antonivskyi bridge — over the Dnipro River in the region has also been destroyed, images and video on social media showed on Friday.

Kherson was the only Ukrainian regional capital that Russian forces had captured since February’s invasion. Their withdrawal east across the Dnipro River cedes large swathes of land that?Russia?has occupied since the early days of the war, and that President Vladimir Putin had declared as Russian territory just five weeks ago.

Scenes of jubilant Ukrainians: Residents of Kherson city have flooded the city’s central square, waving and raising Ukrainian flags, in images geolocated by CNN.

Ukrainian residents of a town on the western outskirts of Kherson city have ripped down Russian propaganda billboards, according to videos on social media geolocated by CNN.

In the town of Snihurivka, in the Mykolaiv region, a CNN team witnessed a party atmosphere, with residents greeting each other with hugs on the streets. Others broke down in tears recalling the ordeal of Russian occupation.

Officials urge caution: A Ukrainian official on Friday acknowledged that Kherson city is “almost under the control of the Armed Forces of Ukraine,” but warned that some Russian troops may have remained behind in civilian clothing.?Residents of Kherson city with whom CNN has spoken in recent weeks confirmed that many Russian soldiers were using civilian clothing.

On Wednesday, officials in Kyiv treated the announcement that Moscow would withdraw troops with skepticism, warning about mines and possible Russian scorched-earth tactics.

Here’s the most current map of control:

The first Ukrainian soldiers have arrived in the middle of Kherson city, where they were greeted by crowds of civilians, according to social media video.

One video showed several soldiers among a crowd in the main Svobody Square being hugged by civilians and taking selfies with them.

One soldier is lifted into the air by the crowd.

The crowd of several dozen civilians, some draped in the Ukrainian flag, is chanting “SZU,” the acronym for the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

The Ukrainian flag also appears to have been raised at the city’s police headquarters.

A Ukrainian official for the first time on Friday acknowledged that Kherson city is “almost under the control of the Armed Forces of Ukraine,” but warned that some Russian troops may have remained behind in civilian clothing.?

Serhii Khlan, a member of Ukraine’s Kherson regional council, told an online briefing that “de-occupation of Kherson city and the western bank of the Dnipro is at the final stage.”

He cautioned that many Russian troops “threw away their military uniforms, and are now hiding with civilian clothes on.”

Residents of Kherson city with whom CNN has spoken in recent weeks confirmed that many Russian soldiers were using civilian clothing.

Khlan?also said that large numbers of Russian troops drowned while trying to flee the city. CNN cannot confirm his claim.

“Our Armed Forces, under a fierce onslaught, destroyed most of the Russians who were fleeing like rats to the left (eastern) bank of the Dnipro,” Khlan said. “They were fleeing along the pontoons they had built under Antonivskyi bridge, leaving their equipment behind. Many Russians have drowned.”

While retreating, he said that Russian forces had detonated explosives at Kherson’s power plant and destroyed part of a TV antenna. Photos of the destroyed TV antenna circulated this morning on Telegram.

“Now since our Armed Forces have actually taken control of the right-bank [western] part of the Kherson region, we can keep the left-bank [eastern] part of Kherson region under fire control, up to the Crimean isthmus,” he said.

He said that communications in the city remained extremely difficult, and that both fuel and electricity were scarce.

The US plans to buy 100,000 rounds of artillery ammunition from South Korean arms manufacturers to provide to?Ukraine, a US official said, as part of a broader effort to find available weaponry for the high-intensity battles unfolding in Ukraine.

As part of the deal, the US will purchase 100,000 rounds of 155mm howitzer ammunition, which will then be transferred to Ukraine through the US.

The arrangement allows South Korea to stick to its public pledge that it would not send lethal aid to Ukraine. In a statement issued Friday morning, the South Korean Defense Ministry said it had not changed its position on shipping weapons to Ukraine, and that it believed the “end user” of the ammunition is the United States.

But statements from South Korea and the US make clear that the deal, which has been in the works for months, has not yet been finalized. The purchase of such a large supply of artillery ammunition is highly sensitive for South Korea, especially given the recent missile launches and weapon tests conducted by North Korea.

South Korea has taken part in meetings of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, the multi-national group set up by the United States to identify available stockpiles of weapons and ship them to Ukraine. But Seoul has so far publicly refused to send lethal aid to Ukraine, only delivering non-lethal and humanitarian aid, such as medical supplies and bulletproof vests.

News of the transfer, first reported by the Wall Street Journal, comes as the US has warned that?North Korea is secretly supplying Russia?with artillery shells for the war in Ukraine. The intended transfers from both Pyongyang and Seoul highlight the pressure the war has put on the defense industrial bases of US and Russia.

Read more here.

A view of a damaged building in Mirolubovka, Kherson region, Ukraine, on November 10.

Russia’s announcement that it has completed its withdrawal from the key city of Kherson and nearby areas represents one of the war’s most significant moments in months.

Kherson was the only Ukrainian regional capital that Russian forces had captured since February’s invasion. Their withdrawal east across the Dnipro River cedes large swathes of land that Russia?has occupied since the early days of the war, and that President Vladimir Putin had formally declared as Russian territory just five weeks ago.

As Russian troops have retreated, Ukrainian troops have pushed forward cautiously, amid warnings from Kyiv that fleeing Russian troops may have left behind a trail of boobytraps and devastation.

The Ukrainian military on Friday said that Russia was destroying critical infrastructure as they retreated, while shelling recently vacated territory from new defensive positions on the eastern bank of the Dnipro River.

On Friday the main bridge across the Dnipro River linking Kherson city to the eastern part of the region was destroyed, which would make any attempts by the Ukrainians to pursue fleeing Russians across the river more difficult.

President Volodymyr Zelensky struck a note of caution earlier this week, saying Ukrainian forces would “move very carefully, without emotions, without unnecessary risk.” His troops on the southern front lines are exhausted and the land ahead of them is likely to be heavily mined. Pursuing the Russian troops would shed more blood.

And in spite of the retreat, Russia will still retain control of 60% of the Kherson region, including the coastline along the Sea of Azov. So long as Moscow’s troops control and fortify the Dnipro’s east bank, Ukrainian forces will struggle to damage or disrupt the canal that carries fresh water to neighboring Crimea.

While the Kremlin has attempted to put the best possible face on the withdrawal, it is undoubtedly a humiliating setback for President Vladimir Putin, who just weeks ago said residents of Kherson had become Russian citizens “forever.”

And while Putin’s spokesman insisted Friday that Kherson region remains part of Russia, the facts on the ground tell a different story.

Ukrainians gather in Kherson city centre following Russian withdrawal on November 11

The Ukrainian military on Friday entered the western edge of Kherson city, according to images on social media geolocated by CNN.

Ukrainian troops can be seen surrounded by residents in Kherson City’s Shumenskyi District.

Residents of Kherson city have also flooded the city’s central square, waving and riasing Ukrainian flags, in other images geolocated by CNN.

A man tears down a Russian billboard poster in Bilozerka,?Kherson?Oblast, Ukraine, in this still image obtained from a video released on November 11.

Ukrainian residents of a town on the western outskirts of Kherson city have raised a Ukrainian flag and ripped down Russian propaganda billboards, according to videos on social media geolocated by CNN.

The videos are from the town of Bilozerka, around 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) west of Kherson city.

One video shows a Ukrainian flag flying over a World War Two memorial. Another shows residents tearing down a propaganda billboards with a young girl holding a Russian flag, which read: “Russia is here forever.”

Ukrainian Emergency Service rescuers carry a body found under rubble at the scene of shelling in Mykolaiv, Ukraine, on November 11.

Six people are now confirmed to have been killed by a Russian strike on the southern Ukrainian city of Mykolaiv overnight, Hanna Zamazieieva, head of the Mykolaiv regional council, said on Telegram.

Three people were also injured, she said.

Some context: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Friday the building was destroyed from the 5th to the 1st floor.

Mykolaiv?neighbors the Kherson region, which Russia claims to have illegally annexed but where Ukraine has been retaking swathes of territory, On Friday, Moscow said Russian troops had withdrawn from the region west of the Dnipro River, including the regional capital, Kherson city

Russian forces have completed their withdrawal from Ukraine’s Kherson Region west of the Dnipro River, including Kherson city, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Friday.

“In the Kherson direction, the move of Russian military units to the left bank of the Dnieper River was completed at 0500 [Moscow time] this morning,” the ministry said on its official Telegram channel.

“Not a single piece of military equipment or weaponry was left behind on the right bank,” the statement said, referring to the western side of the river. “All Russian servicemen have moved to the left bank of the Dnieper” it added, using the Russian spelling for the river.

Images and video on social media on Friday showed that the Antonivskyi Bridge, the main conduit over the Dnipro River in the Kherson region, had been destroyed.

An image circulating on social media Friday showed a Ukrainian flag in the center of Kherson, though there is no suggestion that the Ukrainian military is yet in that city.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, center, with Ukrainian separatist regional leaders; Vladimir Saldo, the Russian appointed head of Kherson, left, Yevgeniy Balitsky, second left, Leonid Pasechnik, right, and Denis Pushilin, second right, seen during the annexation ceremony of four Ukrainian regions at the Grand Kremlin Palace, September 30, in Moscow, Russia.

The top Kremlin spokesperson on Friday insisted that Ukraine’s Kherson region remains part of Russia, despite the announcement of a withdrawal from the region west of the Dnipro River.

“This is a subject of the Russian Federation,” Dmitry Peskov said during a regular briefing with journalists. “It has been legally fixed and defined. There can be no changes here.”

Russia not “humiliated”: Russia still controls a large portion of the Kherson region – the area east of the Dnipro River.

When asked directly whether Russia’s retreat was “humiliating” for Putin, Peskov replied: “No.”

The main bridge over the Dnipro River, the Antonivskyi Bridge, has been destroyed, images and video on social media on Friday show.?

Soldiers of the forces of the 131st separate reconnaissance battalion celebrate recapturing the city of?Snihurivka, Mykolaiv region, Ukraine, on November 10.

A CNN team visiting the newly liberated southern Ukrainian town of Snihurivka on Friday witnessed the elation of residents at being free of Russian occupation.

The CNN team described a party atmosphere in town, with residents greeting each other with hugs on the streets.

“As you drive into the town here, Everyone’s waving, everyone’s happy,” CNN’s Nic Robertson reports.

But residents have “horror stories” to tell about their treatment by the Russians – especially from the past few days. ?

Snihurivka, in Ukraine’s Mykolaiv region, lies on one of the main roads to Kherson city, in the neighboring Kherson region. It was on Thursday morning confirmed to have been liberated by Ukrainian forces.

A large crowd was gathered in the central square. Some residents draped themselves in Ukrainian flags. Others broke down in tears recalling the ordeal of Russian occupation.

A month ago, someone was shot for raising a Ukrainian flag, teenagers told CNN’s Nic Robertson.

“The situation for people here is really difficult — there’s no electricity, there’s no gas,” Robertson reported.

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Reports of looting and torture: Residents described widespread looting by Russian troops, and the CNN team saw a ransacked local bank.

“What’s happened in this town over the past few days is the Russians knew they were going to pull out, there was widespread looting, vehicles looted, we’ve been to the bank here — it’s completely ransacked and looted,” Robertson reported.

“The police station here, we’re told, was used as a base of torture,” he added.

A 15-year-old girl told Robertson that in the last few days of Russians being in the area, she was taken away with a hood put over her head, and spent the days fearing she would be raped. She was released yesterday, he reported.

“This is a town that is only just now getting to grips with the idea of liberation, of what it means to be free, of what it means not to have Russian rule here,” he added.

A local Ukrainian official in the Kherson region told CNN Friday that he could “neither confirm nor deny” whether Russian forces have withdrawn from Kherson city.

Let’s recap: Moscow on Wednesday said its troops would?withdraw from the west bank of the Dnipro River, an area that includes Kherson city, in one of the biggest military setbacks for Russia since its invasion began. A spokesman for the Russian Defense Ministry said that effort began the following day.

Officials in Kyiv, however, have treated the announcement with skepticism. Kherson is one of four Ukrainian regions that Russia attempted to annex in violation of international law, and some doubt that Moscow would give up fighting for a territory filled with people that Russian President Vladimir Putin vowed would be Russian citizens?“forever.”

Ukraine’s military said it had retaken swathes of territory in?Kherson?on Thursday after Moscow ordered a partial withdrawal from the area, though officials in Kyiv warned that retreating Russian soldiers could turn the regional capital into a “city of death” on their way out.

The main bridge over the Dnipro River in Ukraine’s Kherson region has been destroyed, images and video on social media on Friday show.

There is also a suggestion that Russian forces may have entirely left the city, but CNN cannot independently confirm that claim. Alexander Kots,?a reporter for the Russian pro-government tabloid Komsomolskaya Pravda embedded with Russian forces in Kherson, said that “right now there are no Russian troops on the other side.”

Sobolevskyi told CNN that communication with Kherson city was still extremely difficult.

“From yesterday we are struggling to get in touch with our people on the ground to confirm information,” he told CNN. “There is some signal near the Dnipro River reaching from the East bank, by the Antonivskyi bridge.”

Sobolevskyi also declined to confirm the veracity of an image on social media showing a Ukrainian flag in the center of Kherson city.

“I cannot confirm that is a real photo,” he said. “But I can say that it is the Svobody Square (Freedom Square), where all the rallies against occupation took place. The resistance movement was there in Kherson all the time, since occupation began. People have shown their patriotic attitude with patriotic graffiti, ribbons, flags etc.”

This image taken from social media shows the main bridge across the Dnipro river into Kherson has been destroyed, November 11.

The main bridge over the Dnipro River in Ukraine’s Kherson region has been destroyed, images and video on social media on Friday show.

There is also a suggestion that Russian forces may have entirely left the city, but CNN cannot independently confirm that claim.

Alexander Kots, a reporter for the Russian pro-government tabloid Komsomolskaya Pravda embedded with Russian forces in Kherson, said that “right now there are no Russian troops on the other side.”

An image circulating on social media Friday showed a Ukrainian flag in the center of Kherson, though there is no suggestion that the Ukrainian military is yet in that city.

Kots posted a video on his Telegram channel standing on the Antonivskyi bridge, showing the entire center section of the bridge destroyed.

Several other images on social media also show the destroyed bridge.

Liberation and retreat: Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky on Tuesday said more than 41 settlements in southern Ukraine have been liberated following Russia’s decision to move to the eastern side of the Dnipro River.

A Ukrainian serviceman stands on a street in a village near the newly recaptured city of?Snihurivka, in the Mykolaiv region, Ukraine, on November 10.

An official in southern Ukraine on Friday warned residents to be wary of quickly returning to recently liberated territory.

“There are a lot of mines in the liberated territories and settlements,” Vitaliy Kim, head of the Mykolaiv regional military administration, said on Telegram.

Ukrainian forces on Thursday liberated?Snihurivka, a town in the Mykolaiv region that lies on the main road to Russian-occupied Kherson city, in the neighboring Kherson region.

Some context: Officials in Kyiv have treated the announcement of Russia’s retreat from Kherson with skepticism.

Kherson is one of four Ukrainian regions that Russia attempted to annex in violation of international law,?and Kyiv doubts that Moscow is prepared to give up the territory.

Pedestrians cross a street during a power cut in downtown Kyiv, Ukraine, on November 10.

Overnight Russian attacks on Ukrainian power infrastructure have led to emergency power outages “in significant volumes” in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, the Yasno energy company said on Friday.

In the early hours of Friday morning, Russia struck the Vinnytsia region, that region’s leader said.

“Another critical infrastructure facility in the Vinnytsia region was hit again,” Serhiy Borzov said on Telegram.

Some context: In recent weeks, Russian attacks on critical infrastructure?have left millions without water and electricity intermittently, including in the capital Kyiv.

Damaged power lines at the frontline at the northern Kherson region, Ukraine, on November 7.

The Ukrainian military on Friday said that Russian forces were mining roads and destroying critical infrastructure as they retreated in the Kherson region west of the Dnipro River.?

“The Russian invaders continue their looting of settlements from which they are retreating,” spokesman for the General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces Oleksandr Shtupun said on Friday.?

Shtupun said that Russian soldiers occupying the Kherson region had “booby-trapped roads and infrastructure elements with mines” in the villages of Tyahynka and Kozatske. He added that the “bombing of civilians” had been documented.

In the village of Zelenivka, on the outskirts of Kherson city, Russian forces “prohibited residents from moving at all throughout the settlement and are finishing a system of defensive borders,” Shtupun said.

Meanwhile, the Ukrainian military said its counter-offensive towards Kherson city continued Friday.

Russian forces “are urgently loading into boats that seem suitable for crossing and trying to escape,” the Ukrainian military’s Operational Command South said Friday.

Rescuers work at a site of a heavily damaged residential building in Mykolaiv,?Ukraine, on?November 11.

At least two people were killed and two injured in a Russian strike on a five-story residential building in Mykolaiv overnight, a regional military chief said Friday morning.?

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Friday the building was destroyed from the 5th to the 1st floor, and search and rescue operations are ongoing.

“The terrorist state’s cynical response to our successes at the front,” Zelensky said on his Telegram channel.

Some context: Mykolaiv?neighbors the Russian-occupied Kherson region but Ukraine’s military said it had retaken parts of the territory on Thursday after Moscow ordered a partial withdrawal from the area.

The Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed Friday that a Japanese man in his 20s has died fighting in?Ukraine.

The Embassy of Japan in?Ukraine?said it is providing necessary support for the protection of Japanese citizens, and is contacting the man’s family.

“We would like to refrain from giving any further details for the protection of personal information,” it said.

South Korea said Friday its position of not providing lethal weapons to?Ukraine?remains unchanged, despite ammunition trade talks taking place between the United States and South Korea.?

Some context: South Korea’s statement comes after The Wall Street Journal reported, citing US officials familiar with the deal, that Seoul had agreed to sell weapons to the US that would be destined for?Ukraine.

A Ukrainian servicewoman fires a 2S7 Pion self-propelled gun at a position on the frontline in?Kherson?region, Ukraine, on November 9.

Ukraine’s military said it had retaken swathes of territory in?Kherson?on Thursday after Moscow ordered a partial withdrawal from the area, though officials in Kyiv warned that retreating Russian soldiers could turn the regional capital into a “city of death” on their way out.

A military spokesperson said that in just 24 hours, Ukrainian forces had pushed the front line in the key southern region of Kherson forward by 7 kilometers (4.3 miles) and taken control of more than 260 square kilometers of territory (100 square miles). Kyiv said it took control of the towns of Snihurivka and Kyselivka, both of which sit along key roads leading into Kherson city, the regional capital. Kyselivka is located about 15 kilometers (9 miles) away from Kherson city.

Moscow on Wednesday said its troops would?withdraw from the west bank of the Dnipro River, an area that includes Kherson city, in one of the biggest military setbacks for Russia since its invasion began. A spokesperson for the Russian Defense Ministry said that effort began the following day.

Officials in Kyiv, however, have treated the announcement with skepticism. Kherson is one of four Ukrainian regions that Russia attempted to annex in violation of international law, and some doubt that Moscow would give up fighting for a territory filled with people that Russian President Vladimir Putin vowed would be Russian citizens?“forever.”

Ukrainian military spokesperson Vladyslav Nazarov said Russian forces were continuing to shell areas recaptured by the Ukrainian military and attempted to strike humanitarian aid distribution points.

However, signs of the retreat have begun to emerge. Gen. Mark Milley, the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Washington had seen the “beginnings” of a Russian withdrawal in Kherson. Satellite imagery taken last week of Russian-occupied Crimea showed trenches being dug near the border with Kherson, a possible sign that Russian military leaders are nervous about the progress of Ukraine’s counteroffensive.

KHERSON OBLAST, UKRAINE - NOVEMBER 09: Ukrainian Armed Forces' military mobility continue toward Kherson front in Ukraine on November 9, 2022. Ukrainian army continue to support its units in Kherson as Russia-Ukraine war continues. (Photo by Metin Aktas/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

Related article Ukraine claims big gains in south, but fears retreating Russians will turn Kherson into 'city of death' | CNN

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said more than 41 settlements in southern Ukraine have been liberated following the Russian decision to withdraw to the eastern side of the Dnipro river.

Zelensky used his daily video address to congratulate several units involved in the advance through the southern Kherson region.

He added, “Everything that is happening now has been achieved through months of fierce struggle. Achieved by courage, pain and losses. It is not the enemy that is leaving. It is Ukrainians who are chasing the occupiers at great cost.”

Zelensky said police units had moved into several settlements in Kherson, but the liberation of Ukrainian territory was just the first step in a long process.

“The invaders mine everything: power lines, business enterprises, fields, forests,” he said. “At the peak of mine contamination in Ukraine, we had 300,000 square kilometers of life-threatening territory.”

Now, he said, thanks to the efforts of sappers, “there are about 170,000 square kilometers left for de-mining. In particular, this is in the most difficult places – where the fighting is still ongoing, where the enemy will add more mines before its withdrawal, as it is now in Kherson.”

Zelensky thanked the dozen countries assisting in de-mining. He also alluded to Ukraine’s goals in the conflict.

“We have to go all the way — on the battlefield and in diplomacy — so that our flags, Ukrainian flags, and never again any enemy tricolors are on our entire land, within our internationally recognized border,” he said.

Zelensky also thanked the Netherlands and the United States for fresh infusions of aid — about $100 million from the Netherlands and a new package of military assistance from the US. “Important means of air defense. Just what we need, what we asked for,” he said