The liberation of Kherson was one of Ukraine’s biggest successes in the nearly nine-month war, dealing a bitter blow to the Kremlin. It could serve as a springboard for further advances in the occupied territories. US President Joe Biden called it a “significant victory” for Ukraine. “I can do nothing but applaud the courage, determination and ability of the Ukrainian people, the Ukrainian army,” he said on the sidelines of the Group of 20 summit in Indonesia. “I mean, they’ve been really amazing. And I think it’s hard to say at this point exactly what that means… But I’ve been very clear that we’re going to continue to provide the ability for the Ukrainian people to defend themselves.”
Don’t underestimate Russia, NATO chief warns
Large parts of eastern and southern Ukraine are still under Russian control, and the city of Kherson itself remains within range of Moscow’s missiles and missiles. Fierce fighting continued in other parts of Ukraine. Russian state news agency RIA Novosti reported that the town of Oleshky, in Russian-controlled territory across the river from Kherson, came under heavy artillery fire. In Kherson, Zelensky presented medals to soldiers and posed for selfies with them while making a defiant tone. “This is the beginning of the end of the war,” he said. “We are coming step by step to all the temporarily occupied territories.” But he also ruefully noted that the fighting “took our country’s best heroes.” Telecommunications providers said cellphone service was being restored, and the governor said a public wireless Internet access point would begin operating Tuesday. WATCHES | Ukraine to extend race against Russia this winter, analyst says:
Ukraine will continue tough pressure against Russia during the winter, analyst says
Ukrainian troops look poised to extend their battle with Russia in the country’s south into the winter following Ukraine’s triumphant liberation of Kherson, says retired US General Philip Breedlove, former top NATO commander in Europe. The Institute for the Study of War said Ukraine won “a major victory” in retaking the city and other areas west of the Dnipro River, but the Washington-based think tank noted that it “has by no means liberated the minimum necessary area to his future security and economic survival”. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, during his visit to The Hague, warned that “we must not make the mistake of underestimating Russia.” “The Russian armed forces maintain significant capability as well as large numbers of troops, and Russia has shown its willingness to suffer significant casualties,” he said. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Monday declined to comment on Zelensky’s visit to Kherson, saying only that “you know it is the territory of the Russian Federation.”
Torture, war crimes documented, Ukrainians say
The end of Russian occupation of the city – the only provincial capital to be captured since Russia invaded in February – has sparked days of celebration but also exposed a humanitarian emergency. As winter approaches, its remaining 80,000 residents are without heat, water and electricity, and lack food and medicine. Zelensky said the city is full of traps and mines. And Ukrainian authorities say there are signs of atrocities emerging, as in other liberated areas. Ukrainian soldiers pull a car out of a crater on the road in the Kherson region on Sunday. Ukraine’s liberation of Kherson could serve as a springboard for further advances in the occupied territories, but NATO has warned against underestimating Russia’s capabilities. (AFP/Getty Images) Russian forces “destroyed everything in their path, destroyed the entire power grid,” the Ukrainian president said. Russia still controls about 70 percent of the greater Kherson region. Ukrainian police called on residents to help identify people who collaborated with Russian forces. In Ankara, Turkey, CIA Director Bill Burns met with his Russian counterpart, Sergei Naryskin, to outline the consequences if Moscow develops a nuclear weapon in Ukraine, according to a White House National Security Council official. The official, who was not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity, said Burns and Naryskin, the head of Russia’s SVR spy agency, did not discuss settling the war. Their meeting was the highest face-to-face engagement between US and Russian officials since Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the invasion on February 24. While U.S. officials for months have warned about the prospect that Russia could use weapons of mass destruction in Ukraine amid setbacks on the battlefield, Biden administration officials have repeatedly said nothing has changed in U.S. intelligence assessments to suggest that Putin has imminent plans to develop nuclear weapons. In this photo provided by the Press Office of the Ukrainian Presidency and posted on Facebook, Ukrainian soldiers take a selfie with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during his visit to Kherson on Monday. (Press Office of the President of Ukraine/The Associated Press) Zelensky’s trip to Kherson was another in a series of unexpected visits to front-line zones at critical junctures of the war. This was loaded with symbolism and the common touch – clearly aimed at boosting the morale of both soldiers and civilians. In one video, a visibly emotional Zelensky stood with his hand over his heart and sang the national anthem in Kherson as troops saluted and stood at attention. A soldier steadily raised the yellow-blue flag of Ukraine. People with flags draped over their shoulders cheered, cried and shouted in gratitude as Zelensky passed. “It’s amazing. We waited nine months for him. Thank you,” said resident Danila Yuhrenko. In his late-night video address on Sunday, Zelensky said without elaborating that “investigators have already documented more than 400 Russian war crimes and bodies of civilians and military personnel have been found.” “In the Kherson region, the Russian army left behind the same atrocities as in other regions of our country,” he said. “We will find and bring to justice every killer. No doubt.”
Infrastructure challenges as both sides report gains
Residents said Russian troops ransacked the city and destroyed key infrastructure before retreating to the wide Dnipro River on its east bank. A Ukrainian official described the situation in Kherson as a “humanitarian disaster”. Reconnecting the electricity supply is the priority, with natural gas supplies already secured, Kherson regional governor Yaroslav Yanusevic said. The coming of winter complicates the situation, with NATO’s Stoltenberg saying Putin aims to “leave Ukraine cold and dark this winter”. Biden said he expected things to slow down somewhat militarily “because of the winter months and not being able to move around the country as easily.” The inhabitants of Kherson react during Zelensky’s visit. The president awarded medals to soldiers, waved to residents and promised that basic services would be restored. (Valentyn Ogirenko/Reuters) Over the past two months, Ukraine’s military has claimed to have recaptured dozens of towns and villages north of the city of Kherson, which is a key gateway to the Crimean peninsula in the south. But the bitter war continued – with shelling, civilian casualties and each side reporting gains. The Russian Defense Ministry said its forces had fully captured the village of Pavlivka in the eastern Donetsk region. Multiple Ukrainian officials have reported heavy fighting in the area in recent weeks, but have not confirmed the loss of Pavlivka. In Luhansk, another eastern region illegally annexed by Moscow, Kiev forces recaptured 12 settlements, regional governor Serhiy Haidai said.
