November 11, 2022 Russia-Ukraine news

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.

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.

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.”

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.

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. 

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.

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.”

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.