Fighting
Residents of the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson celebrated Russian troops’ withdrawal – one of the biggest military achievements for Kyiv since Moscow invaded nearly nine months ago. Russian forces destroyed critical infrastructure – including communications, water, heat, and electricity – in Kherson before their withdrawal, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said. Ukraine’s National Police chief Ihor Klymenko said 200 officers were at work in the city, setting up checkpoints and documenting evidence of possible war crimes. About 70 percent of the Kherson region remains under Moscow’s control, with Russian troops fortifying their battle lines on the eastern bank of the Dnieper River. Russia said the Ukrainian city of Henichesk, located on the Sea of Azov, is now the Kherson region’s temporary administrative capital.
Diplomacy
Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Iranian counterpart President Ebrahim Raisi discussed deepening cooperation on political, trade and economic matters in a phone call. Russia said there was no agreement yet to extend a deal allowing Ukraine to export grain through the Black Sea, repeating its insistence on unhindered access to world markets for its own food and fertiliser exports. Turkey is committed to seeking peace talks between Russia and Ukraine, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said. “We are working on how to create a peace corridor here, like we had the grain corridor.” Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen called for unity at the East Asia Summit, telling the gathering – including Russia, China and the United States – that current global tensions have taken a toll on everyone. Renowned British street artist Banksy appears to be behind the artwork that recently appeared on a destroyed building in Ukraine.
