WAR IN UKRAINE: November 12, 2022
People in Kyiv celebrate the arrival of Ukrainian troops to Kherson
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS: Day 262
After an extraordinary offensive by Ukrainian forces, Russia evacuated some 30,000 troops from the Kherson region - along with substantial amounts of fighting equipment. Residents joined soldiers in Kherson's central square Friday evening to sing patriotic songs around a large camp fire. Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky hailed it as an "historic day.”
The US says Ukraine achieved an "extraordinary victory" after its military forces regained control of the key southern city following a total Russian withdrawal. The U.S. Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken, hailed the "remarkable courage" of Ukraine's military and people and vowed US support would "continue for as long as it takes" to defeat Russia
Meanwhile, the UK's Defence Secretary Ben Wallace says Russia's retreat from Kherson marks "another strategic failure" for Moscow
Satellite imagery shows significant damage to bridges near Kherson, Nova Kakhovka dam. Several bridges connecting Ukraine's east and west banks of the Dnipro River were heavily damaged following Russia's retreat from the west bank of the Dnipro River, including from Kherson, on Nov. 11. Meanwhile, Ukrainian law enforcement has found the remains of three civilians killed during Russia’s occupation of Beryslav, Kherson Oblast, reported the Prosecutor General’s Office on Nov. 11. The bodies, which will be sent for further inspection, reportedly had fractured skulls and were found in a cellar. On Oct. 26, the Reintegration Ministry reported that around 1,000 were exhumed in recently liberated territories - Kyiv Independent
The executive director of Ukraine's largest private power producer DTEK Dmytro Sakharuk said on TV on Nov. 11 that there is no electricity at all in the city of Kherson. Sakharuk added that it took 30 days to restore power to the parts of Kyiv Oblast occupied by Russia and expects it will take about the same amount of time to restore electricity to Kherson.
The former head of Ukraine’s National Security Council, Oleksandr Danylyuk, has told the BBC what the recapture of Kherson means to his fellow Ukrainians. “It’s almost like a national holiday, everyone is cheering, congratulating each other," he said. “So it’s a great victory, but we understand the war is not over.” Danylyuk believes Russian forces will “go into deep defence on the left bank [of the Dnipro river]… and it will put them [at an] advantageous position”. He says the next months will be more difficult, but adds that when it comes to motivation amongst Ukrainian troops: “We are prevailing.”
The UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) says it's "highly likely" Russian troops destroyed road and rail bridges over the Dnipro river as part of their retreat. It says the Russian withdrawal likely started as early as 22 October when Russian-appointed officials urged civilians to leave the city. "There is a realistic possibility that Russian military equipment and forces in civilian attire had been evacuating in conjunction with the 80,000 stated evacuated civilians in recent weeks…Kherson was the only regional capital city captured since February by Russian forces, so the withdrawal brings significant reputational damage," it adds. "The withdrawal is a public recognition of the difficulties faced by Russian forces on the west bank of the Dnipro River."
The IAEA said it found during an inspection that a nuclear research facility in Ukraine’s northeastern city of Kharkiv had suffered heavy damage by shelling during the military conflict in the country, but said it detected no indication of radiological release or diversion of nuclear material - RFE/RL
