The Ukrainian army entered Kherson, the capital of the strategic southern region occupied by the Russians in the early stages of the offensive. Moscow’s forces withdrew to the east, on the left bank of the Dnieper River, in another severe setback for the so-called special operation, nearly nine months after its inception. The flag of the European Union has also been hoisted on the building that houses the town hall of Kherson, next to the Ukrainian one.
Talks are underway between UN delegations and Russia for the renewal of the agreement for the export of wheat from Ukrainian ports, which is set to expire in just over a week.
Meanwhile, the Biden administration is divided with part of the government that would like to press on Kiev to seek the diplomatic path to end the war and other advisers who believe it is still too early. And Ukraine is building a wall on the border with Belarus.
To know more
– Russian soldiers disguised as civilians, now the fear is of attacks in the city
– The humiliated tsar puts the blame on the military and now in Moscow it is a hunt for traitors
Kherson, Ukrainian flag raised: “Glory to our soldiers”
Updates hour by hour
00.40 – Kiev: 3,000 sq km of territory freed in one day
The Ukrainian army cleared nearly 3,000 square kilometers in southern Ukraine. She said it – as reported by the Kiev Independent – Natalia Humeniuk, spokeswoman for the southern operational command of the armed forces of Ukraine, referring to the day of 11 November.
00.23 – Ukraine: Russians leave Kherson without electricity and TV
The Ukrainian national anthem resounded in the center of Kherson, after the withdrawal of Russian troops who, before leaving, blew up the electricity grid and the television tower which was restored. In a video released by the Kiev Parliament, a small crowd of people, near a bonfire that lights up the night, is seen singing under the yellow and blue flag flying over a government building. In the neighboring province of Mykolaiv, which the Russians failed to capture after months of attack, Governor Vitaliy Kim said the entire region, with the exception of the Kinburn promontory in the south, has returned to Ukrainian control. The Russian Defense Ministry confirmed that “over 30,000 Russian soldiers and about 5,000 vehicles have been evacuated”. Kherson was the first major urban center to fall, following the February 24 invasion. Its full reconquest by Kiev could open the door to the entire region, with access to both the Black Sea in the west and the Sea of Azov in the east. “Ukraine is getting another major victory right now and it shows that whatever Russia says or does, Ukraine will win,” Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba wrote on social media.
00.01 – Ukrainian forces advance in some parts of the Luhansk region
According to a Ukrainian official, fierce fighting continues in the Luhansk region of eastern Ukraine, where there are a large number of newly mobilized Russian troops. Roman Vlasenko, head of the military administration of the Severodonetsk district, told Ukrainian television that there were three major front lines running north to south in Luhansk. Vlasenko said Ukrainian forces were making some progress around the city of Svatove and further north and that “active hostilities” were underway along the entire front line in the Luhansk region. Ukrainian forces were advancing west and south of Svatove. There is a high concentration of new Russian troops in the cities of Kreminna, Rubizhne, Severodonetsk and Lysychansk, Vlasenko said. All four towns and cities lie 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.
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