Ukraine war: Russian 'hunger games', Kherson liberation, Turkey peace talks
Ukrainian police officers returned to Kherson on Saturday, along with TV and radio services, after Kyiv recaptured the city on Friday.
It is part of a fast, but cautious, effort by Ukraine to reclaim the southern port city, following a withdrawal of Russian forces who had occupied Kherson since the early days of the war.
There were jubilant scenes across Ukraine after news of the liberation broke, though one official described the Black Sea city as “a humanitarian catastrophe.”
Moscow announced in the early hours of Friday morning that its forces had withdrawn from Kherson, moving tens of thousands of troops and military equipment to the other side of the Dnieper River.
The retreat is a significant blow for Moscow, coming some six weeks after Russian President Vladimir Putin annexed four regions of southeastern Ukraine, including where Kherson is located.
He declared the areas part of Russia in a move that breached international law.
Russian officials have maintained that the retreat does not change Russia's control over these annexed regions.
The Kherson region has been a flashpoint for Ukrainian and Russian forces, with Kyiv's soldiers pressing into the area as part of a broader offensive.
Roman Holovnya, a Ukrainian adviser, said the situation in Kherson was “a humanitarian catastrophe”.
The remaining residents were without water, medicine and food, he said. Essentials like bread were also lacking due to power cuts.
“The occupiers and collaborators did everything possible so that those people who remained in the city suffered as much as possible over those days, weeks, months of waiting” for Ukraine’s forces to arrive, Holovnya said.
“Water supplies are practically nonexistent.”
Russia said on Saturday there was still
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