War in Ukraine: From invasion to Russian retreat from Kherson

Paris: Russia said Thursday it had begun retreating from the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson that it had occupied since March, which, if confirmed, would be a major defeat for Vladimir Putin’s forces.

AFP looks back at the battle for the strategic Black Sea port, which was the first major urban centre to fall to Russian forces in the early days of the invasion.

2 March: Kherson falls

Russian troops mount an attack on the Kherson region from Crimea on the opening day of the invasion on 24 February. Within days, they have the city surrounded and on 2 March, they claim to be in control of the city.

A day later, Ukrainian forces confirm that the port which had a pre-war population of 280,000 people and acts as a gateway to the Moscow-occupied Crimea peninsula has fallen.

27 April: Pro-Ukraine protests repressed

Kherson residents stage several protests against the occupation. Russian forces do not initially react but on 27 April, videos posted on social media show them using tear gas and stun grenades to disperse demonstrators chanting “Kherson is Ukraine”.

29 August: Counter-offensive begins

After driving Russian forces back from the outskirts of Kyiv and from the north of the second city of Kharkiv, Ukrainian forces on 29 August launch a counter-attack to retake Kherson.

Kyiv’s troops use Western-supplied high-precision artillery to attack Russian supply lines in the region and to take out bridges across the Dnipro river into Kherson.

“If they want to survive, now is the time for the Russian soldiers to flee. Go home,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says in a video address.

23-27 September: ‘Sham’ referendums

Faced with a fierce Ukrainian counter-offensive in the Kharkiv region, Putin moves to secure his control over the occupied south by organising referendums in Kherson and three other regions on joining Russia.

The votes held between 23 and 27 September are dismissed by Kyiv and the West as a sham.

The Kremlin claims a landslide victory.

30 September: Annexation

Three days after the voting ends Putin formally annexes the four regions in a grand ceremony at the Kremlin, declaring that residents of Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Lugansk and Donetsk will be Russian citizens “forever”.

19 October: Evacuations start

On 19 October, pro-Kremlin officials in Kherson say they have begun evacuating civilians from the city.

Residents receive text messages to board ferries out of Kherson “before the Ukrainian army begins bombing”. Kyiv accuses them of Soviet-style deportations of civilians to Russia and other Moscow-controlled regions.

6 November: Power, water cut

On 6 November, Kherson’s pro-Moscow rulers claim that Ukrainian strikes have left the city without electricity and also disrupted water supplies. Kyiv rejects the blame. Power is restored two days later.

9 November: Russians announce retreat

In a surprise move, Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu tells Russia’s commander in Ukraine, Sergei Surovikin, to begin pulling out troops from Kherson to Russian positions on the eastern bank of the Dnipro. Surovikin says 115,000 civilians have also been moved out of the city.

Ukrainian officials react sceptically to the announcement, suspecting a ruse.

On 10 November, the Russian defence ministry says the retreat has begun.

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