Ukraine says troops entering Kherson city after Russian withdrawal - The Washington Post

The announcement came soon aft Russia said Friday that its troops had finished withdrawing from the westbound slope of the Dnieper River successful Kherson. Moscow claimed that nary Russian soldiers oregon subject instrumentality were near behind.

Losing Kherson constitues a large subject and governmental setback for the Kremlin successful Ukraine and a stroke to its efforts to consolidate its grip implicit swaths of the country’s south.

A ample assemblage of canting revelers, immoderate draped successful Ukranian flags, gathered Friday successful Kherson’s cardinal quadrate to celebrate, according to videos shared widely connected societal media, verified by The Washington Post.

Friday’s withdrawal came sooner than Western officials had forecast. U.S. Army Gen. Mark A. Milley, president of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, predicted Tuesday that a Russian pullout from the metropolis successful confederate Ukraine would instrumentality “days and possibly adjacent weeks.” Ukrainian officials had besides expressed skepticism that Russia could retreat rapidly from Kherson.

“At 5 a.m. Moscow time, the redeployment of Russian troops to the near slope of the Dnieper River was completed,” Russia’s Defense Ministry said Friday. “Not a azygous portion of subject instrumentality and weaponry was near … and determination were nary losses of personnel, weapons, equipment,” the connection said.

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu issued the bid connected tv Wednesday for troops to propulsion backmost crossed the stream to sphere their forces. With the fog of warfare engulfing the battlefield successful Kherson, it remained unclear arsenic of Wednesday whether immoderate Russian forces could beryllium stranded connected the westbound broadside of the river, The Washington Post reported.

On Friday, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov declined to remark connected Kherson, describing it arsenic a substance for the Russian Defense Ministry. But helium said the “Kherson portion is simply a taxable of the Russian Federation. This presumption is fixed.”

Fighting has gripped Kherson adjacent arsenic the Kremlin claimed the portion arsenic its own, on with 3 different Ukrainian territories, successful a widely condemned annexation successful precocious September. A withdrawal from the metropolis means relinquishing the superior of a portion that Russian President Vladimir Putin declared portion of Russia weeks ago.

A Ukrainian official, who was not authorized to talk to the media and spoke connected the information of anonymity, said earlier Friday that Ukrainian forces had entered 3 parts of Kherson city, including the cardinal Suvorovsky region. Ganna Malyar, Ukraine’s lawman defence minister, told The Washington Post connected Friday that Ukranian forces were inactive successful ample portion approaching the city, but that “special units” were already in.

Officials successful Kyiv voiced interest this week astir whether immoderate Russian forces could beryllium hiding successful the metropolis and accused departing troops of destroying infrastructure.

Videos and photographs posted Friday and verified by The Post showed that sections of the Antonovsky Bridge, which links Kherson to territory successful confederate Ukraine controlled by Russian forces, has collapsed.

The span was antecedently targeted by rocket attacks. But outer imagery captured by Planet Labs connected Thursday day showed that it was not missing large sections, indicating that caller structural harm occurred successful the past day. A Ukrainian authorities adviser blamed Russian troops, accusing them of blowing it up portion retreating.

Samuel Oakford contributed to this report.