Doubts over withdrawal by Russians
UKRAINIAN officials have acknowledged that Russian troops had no choice but to flee a key southern city.
But they stopped short of declaring victory in Kherson, even after Moscow said it began a retreat that would represent a humiliating defeat in the grinding war.
It was difficult to know what was happening in the strategic port city, from which tens of thousands have fled in recent weeks.
Some Western observers, including the highest-ranking US military officer, said they believed the Kremlin’s forces have been forced to pull out - though a full withdrawal could take some time.
But one senior Ukrainian official offered a reason to be wary of any pullback: Presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak alleged Russian forces had laid mines throughout Kherson, saying they wanted to turn it into a “city of death”.
Moscow took Kherson soon after the invasion on February 24 - the only provincial capital it has captured - and illegally annexed the wider region of the same name in September.
A forced pull-out from the city would mark one of Russia’s worst setbacks and recapturing Kherson could allow Ukraine to win back lost territory in the south, including Crimea, which Moscow illegally seized in 2014.
A Russian retreat is also almost certain to raise domestic pressure on the Kremlin to escalate the conflict.