Ukrainian flag raised in Kherson as Russia retreats across Dnieper River - NBC News

"Ukraine holds the inaugural and is successful the process of securing a large triumph successful Kherson," the Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based deliberation tank, said successful a briefing enactment Thursday. "The large Ukrainian triumph underway successful Kherson Oblast volition not beryllium Ukraine’s last."

The enactment pointed retired that the wet, muddy upwind that truthful severely affected Russian proviso lines astatine the commencement of the warfare successful February had returned, adding that Ukraine's harsh frozen wintertime could again hamper the Kremlin's goals.

Despite Ukrainian gains the warfare is acold from over. Russia is firing a staggering 20,000 artillery rounds per day, according to a elder U.S. defence official, portion Ukraine is firing from 4,000 to 7,000 rounds daily.

And the toll connected civilians shows nary signs of easing.

At slightest six radical were killed and 3 injured successful a Russian rocket onslaught conscionable aft 3 a.m. connected an flat artifact successful the metropolis of Mykolaiv, astir 55 miles westbound of Kherson city, section officials said.

"It's the adjacent warfare transgression of the Russian occupants, we person six victims and it's conscionable civilians," Dmytro Pletenchuk, spokesperson for the Mykolaiv Regional Military Administration, told NBC News astatine the scene.

There person lone been 45 days without immoderate shelling successful Mykolaiv since the warfare began, helium said. Russia has consistently denied targeting civilians.

Ludmyla, 54, a kindergarten teacher who lives successful the artifact of apartments that was shelled overnight, but spent the nighttime successful different portion of the city, said: "I saw connected the net that the full satellite saw that it was our location that got hit. We are fine, we are live but it is very, precise bittersweet for the radical who person died."

As the cleanup cognition continued and the dormant were carried retired of the gathering successful assemblage bags, residents salvaged what they could from their damaged homes, portion a section foundation handed retired food. Local children, oblivious to the horrors astir them, fed pigeons and played connected plaything sets.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that the residential onslaught was a “cynical response” to Ukraine’s occurrence connected the battlefield.

“Russia does not springiness up its despicable tactics. And we volition not springiness up our struggle. The occupiers volition beryllium held to relationship for each transgression against Ukraine and Ukrainians,” helium wrote connected his Telegram channel.