Ukrainians celebrate retaking of Kherson

Jubilant residents welcomed Ukrainian troops arriving in the centre of the strategic city of Kherson after Russia abandoned the only regional capital it had captured since its invasion began in February.

KHERSON RETREAT

President Zelenskiy hailed "a historic day" in getting Kherson back. Special units of the military were inside with defending troops on the outskirts, he said.

Russia's defence ministry said it had withdrawn more than 30,000 soldiers across the Dnipro River in its retreat, without losing a soldier. But Ukrainians described a chaotic retreat, with Russian troops ditching their uniforms or drowning trying to escape.

The Kremlin said Russia's withdrawal from Kherson's capital would not change the region's status as annexed by Russia.

Significant new damage to the major Nova Kakhovka dam in southern Ukraine can be seen following Russia's withdrawal from nearby Kherson, US satellite imagery company Maxar said.

Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, at an Asian summit in Cambodia, on Saturday urged Southeast Asian countries to take all measures possible to stop Russia from playing "hunger games" over a Black Sea grain deal that could expire next week.

Ukraine says it is building a reinforced concrete wall and other fortifications on its border with Belarus, a Kremlin ally that Moscow used as a staging ground for its 24 Feb invasion.

The United Nations nuclear watchdog said an investigation of a research plant in the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv found it was badly damaged, but there were no signs of a radiological release or diversion of nuclear material.

Senior UN officials met with a Russian delegation in Geneva to discuss Moscow's grievances about the Black Sea grains export initiative and address the need for unimpeded food and fertilizer exports, a UN spokesperson said.

Russian-based international ballet dancers from elite companies like the Bolshoi and the Mariinsky who fled the country, leaving behind their lives, jobs and belongings, are reuniting for one performance in California on Saturday.

– Reuters