Ukrainian official: Russia mining Kherson to turn it into ‘city of death’
A senior Ukrainian official has warned that Russian forces are booby-trapping the city of Kherson, accusing them of trying to turn it into a “city of death”.
Mykhailo Podolyak, adviser to the head office of Ukraine’s president, tweeted that Russia “wants to turn Kherson into a ‘city of death’”,
He claimed that the Russian military “mines everything they can: apartments, sewers”, and that “artillery on the left bank” of the Dnieper River “plans to turn the city into ruins”.
He said that the Russian forces deployed to Kherson city “came, robbed, celebrated, killed ‘witnesses’, left ruins and left”..
RF wants to turn Kherson into a “city of death”. Ru-military mines everything they can: apartments, sewers. Artillery on the left bank plans to turn the city into ruins. This is what “Russian world” looks like: came, robbed, celebrated, killed “witnesses”, left ruins and left.
— Михайло Подоляк (@Podolyak_M) November 10, 2022
The city – which Russian forces announced they would be retreating from on Wednesday – was one of the areas that the Russian Federation claimed to annex from Ukraine in September.
Key events
NATO general secretary: ‘Kherson withdrawal would be another victory for Ukraine’
NATO’s general secretary Jens Stoltenberg says Russia is coming under “heavy pressure” after the country’s defence minister ordered his troops to withdraw from Kherson.
Reuters reports that he spoke to reporters after meeting new Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni in Rome on Thursday.
“What is clear is that Russia is coming under heavy pressure and if they leave Kherson it would be another victory for Ukraine.”
Germany has delivered more military equipment to Ukraine, including reconnaissance drones, MRAP vehicles, missiles and anti-drone equipment.
The delivery was welcomed by Ukraine’s military intelligence body on Thursday.
Ukrainian state broadcaster, Ukrinform, reports that Germany has given military support worth €1.5bn (£1.3bn) since the start of the conflict.
⚡️ Німеччина відправила до України розвідувальні безпілотники
▪️Про це повідомив Уряд ФРН. З Німеччини до України направлено додатковий пакет військової допомоги, до якого, зокрема, увійшло 18 розвідувальних БПЛА. Крім того, ФРН надала інші необхідні захисникам України засоби. pic.twitter.com/jPcurafis5
— Defence intelligence of Ukraine (@DI_Ukraine) November 10, 2022
Ukrainian troops have advanced 7km in two directions and recaptured 12 settlements, according to its armed forces.
The Ukrainian army commander-in-chief, Valeriy Zaluzhny, was quoted by the force’s official Telegram account, which shows a map indicating Ukrainian advances towards Kherson city.
He said: “We can’t yet confirm or deny the information of the so-called withdrawal of Russian occupation troops from Kherson. We continue to conduct the offensive operation in line with our plan.”
Summary of the day so far …
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There have been diverging reactions to Russia’s announcement on Wednesday that it would withdraw its troops from the right bank of Kherson region – in what would be another defeat for its forces.
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On Wednesday the Russian defence minister, Sergei Shoigu, ordered troops to leave Ukraine’s southern city of Kherson, the only regional capital Moscow had captured since the invasion began. The announcement marked one of Russia’s most significant retreats and a potential turning point in the war. General Sergei Surovikin, in overall command of Russian forces, called it a “very difficult decision”.
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While Russia did not formally declare it was abandoning Kherson, all signs point to a Moscow retreat. “Kherson cannot be fully supplied and function,” Surovikin said. “The decision to defend on the left bank of the [Dnieper] is not easy, at the same time we will save the lives of our military.” Russia had been preparing its exit for the last month, moving its command and control across the river.
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Ukraine reacted with caution, saying some Russian forces were still in Kherson and additional Russian manpower was being sent. “Until the Ukrainian flag is flying over Kherson, it makes no sense to talk about a Russian withdrawal,” said Mykhailo Podolyak, a senior adviser to the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
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On Thursday Podolyak said that Russia is booby-trapping the city of Kherson, accusing them of trying to turn it into a “city of death”. He claimed that the Russian military “mines everything they can: apartments, sewers” and that “artillery on the left bank” of the Dnipro river “plans to turn the city into ruins.”
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Russia’s loss of Kherson’s west bank will likely prevent its forces from achieving their strategic aspiration of a land bridge reaching Odesa, according to the UK Ministry of Defence. “With limited crossing points, Russian forces will be vulnerable in crossing the Dnipro River,” the latest British intelligence report reads.
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Russia’s decision to withdraw troops from near the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson is a positive step, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said.
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America’s top general and chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, estimates that Russia’s military had seen more than 100,000 of its soldiers killed and wounded in Ukraine, adding Kyiv’s armed forces has “probably” suffered a similar level of casualties in the war. Mark Milley’s remarks offer the highest US estimate of casualties to date in the nearly nine-month-old conflict.
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Italy has not ruled out new measures to provide further military support for Ukraine but these are not on table at the moment, defence minister Guido Crosetto told Il Messaggero daily.
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The US reportedly will not give Ukraine advanced drones in order to avoid an escalation with Russia, according to the Wall Street Journal. Kyiv has pleaded for the weaponry for months. The Biden administration’s decision reflects the limit of the kinds of weaponry Washington is willing to provide for Ukraine’s defence, the WSJ noted.
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Putin may only take part in the upcoming summit of the G20 group of nations in Bali via video link, Russian state news agency RIA said on Thursday, citing the Russian embassy in Indonesia. Zelenskiy is also due to appear via video.
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The global dash for gas amid the Ukraine war will accelerate climate breakdown and could send temperatures soaring far beyond the 1.5C limit of safety, analysis has shown. If all of the new gas projects announced in response to the global gas supply crunch are fulfilled, the resulting greenhouse gas emissions would add up to about 10% of the total amount of carbon dioxide that can safely be emitted by 2050.
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Police on Jersey have admitted they conducted unlawful searches at premises allegedly linked to Russian businessman Roman Abramovich and have agreed to pay damages and apologise.
That is it from me, Martin Belam, for now. I will be back with you later on. In the meantime, Harry Taylor will be with you.
Sweden will continue its dialogue with Turkey to overcome objections raised by Ankara over its application to join the Nato alliance, its foreign minister, Tobias Billstrom, said on Thursday.
“I think the discussions are continuing in a very positive way,” Billstrom told reporters in Berlin after meeting his German counterpart, Reuters reports.
Billstrom said discussions would continue on all levels and that he would go to Ankara shortly.
At the same time, Germany’s foreign minister, Annalena Baerbock, spoke about Hungary’s delay in ratifying the accession of Sweden and Finland to the alliance.
“With regard to the question about Hungary: I would like to underline this clearly … there is no grey area,” Baerbock told a joint news conference.
Hungary’s parliament will discuss the ratification during its autumn session.
Ukrainian official: Russia mining Kherson to turn it into ‘city of death’
A senior Ukrainian official has warned that Russian forces are booby-trapping the city of Kherson, accusing them of trying to turn it into a “city of death”.
Mykhailo Podolyak, adviser to the head office of Ukraine’s president, tweeted that Russia “wants to turn Kherson into a ‘city of death’”,
He claimed that the Russian military “mines everything they can: apartments, sewers”, and that “artillery on the left bank” of the Dnieper River “plans to turn the city into ruins”.
He said that the Russian forces deployed to Kherson city “came, robbed, celebrated, killed ‘witnesses’, left ruins and left”..
RF wants to turn Kherson into a “city of death”. Ru-military mines everything they can: apartments, sewers. Artillery on the left bank plans to turn the city into ruins. This is what “Russian world” looks like: came, robbed, celebrated, killed “witnesses”, left ruins and left.
— Михайло Подоляк (@Podolyak_M) November 10, 2022
The city – which Russian forces announced they would be retreating from on Wednesday – was one of the areas that the Russian Federation claimed to annex from Ukraine in September.
Russia’s foreign ministry said on Thursday it had summoned the Latvian ambassador in protest over what it described as the demolition of Soviet-era monuments, Reuters reports.
“A strong protest was issued to the head of the Latvian diplomatic mission in connection with the ongoing policy of state vandalism in Latvia to dismantle Soviet memorials,” the foreign ministry said.
In recent months, Latvia has removed statues and memorials including the Monument to the Liberators of Soviet Latvia and Riga from the German Fascist Invaders, a 79-metre concrete obelisk which had stood in Riga since 1985.
In the earliest days of the war, Ukrainian teacher Olena Kurilo became one of its defining images. She was photographed by Anadolu Agency photojournalist Wolfgang Schwan. She was pictured on 24 February with her head wrapped in a bandage and her face caked with blood after an airstrike on the city of Chuhuiv in Kharkiv oblast, eastern Ukraine.
Now photographer and subject have been reunited after nine months, meeting up in Warsaw where they posed next to the image.
In an interview with Anadolu Agency this week, Kurilo said: “I needed surgery, and clinics in Ukraine could not take me, but thanks to British journalists and newspapers, I managed to get to Poland and I had three surgeries.”
She said that the photo had helped give her a purpose, telling reporters: “It just happened that I became a face of the Ukrainian war, but I understood that it didn’t happen just by accident. I understood that this was on purpose and that I had a mission. My mission now is to help people. It’s true that I speak mainly about Ukraine because I understand that now my duty is also to help Ukraine’s victory and help my country and I use my voice as much as I can.”
The British government said on Thursday it had frozen assets worth £18bn ($20.5bn) held by Russian oligarchs, other individuals and entities sanctioned for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“We have imposed the most severe sanctions ever on Russia and it is crippling their war machine,” said Andrew Griffith, a junior government minister in the Treasury, Reuters reports. “Our message is clear: we will not allow Putin to succeed in this brutal war.”
Britain has so far imposed sanctions on more than 1,200 individuals and more than 120 entities in Russia.
Video appears to show Ukraine has captured Snihurivka in Mykolaiv region
Isobel Koshiw
The Ukrainian 131 Separate Reconnaissance battalion has posted a video to Telegram that they say was filmed in Snihurivka, Mykolaiv region. It would mark the first official confirmation that Ukrainian troops have captured the town.
The message accompanying the video reads: “Today, 10 November 2022, the settlement of Snihurivka was liberated [by] the forces of 131 separate reconnaissance battalion. Glory to Ukraine!”
A version with English subtitles has also been posted to Twitter.
Snihurivka is about 35 miles from the city of Kherson.
Here are some of the latest images of live in Ukraine that have been sent to us over the newswires today.
