“Before leaving Kherson, the occupiers destroyed all critical infrastructure — communication, water supply, heating, electricity,” he said in his nightly speech. “We will restore everything, believe me, although it will take time.” His assessment comes as evidence emerged of the humanitarian impact of Russia’s occupation of the southern city. Residents reported being without power, water and electricity for several days before Ukrainian troops arrived. There were 10 specialist bomb disposal teams working in Kherson over the weekend. A police officer was injured on Saturday during the demining of an administrative building. So far they have removed nearly 2,000 explosives, including mines, wires and unexploded ordnance, Zelensky said. Ihor Klymenko, head of Ukraine’s national police, urged citizens who fled Kherson not to return until Ukrainian forces complete efforts to secure control of the city and make it safe for residents. Ukrainian forces took control of 60 towns in the Kherson region, Zelensky said. More troops were heading into the region and the city over the weekend. Reports of extensive damage to a dam northeast of the city underlined the dangers as Ukrainian forces try to regain control. Images from the US satellite company Maxar Imagery, taken on Friday morning, showed significant damage to the Nova Kakhovka dam, “with parts of the dam and flumes destroyed,” it said on Twitter. It was unclear Sunday if the dam’s structural integrity was threatened. Neither side claimed responsibility for the damage. Russia said on Friday that its forces had completed their withdrawal from the city, the only provincial capital it had seized since President Vladimir Putin launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February. A resident hugs a Ukrainian soldier in central Kherson on Saturday as townspeople celebrate Russia’s retreat © Reuters US national security adviser Jake Sullivan on Saturday called Russia’s retreat “remarkable”. “It looks like the Ukrainians have just won an extraordinary victory where the only regional capital that Russia had captured in this war is now back under a Ukrainian flag,” he said. Sullivan said Russia’s retreat had “broader strategic implications” in southern Ukraine. “Being able to push the Russians beyond [Dnipro] river means that long-term threats to places like Odessa and the Black Sea coast are reduced,” he said. Photos and videos of jubilant Kherson residents continued to circulate on social media over the weekend, with residents in the city’s central square waving blue and yellow Ukrainian flags and hugging soldiers. Located in a delta where the Dnipro River flows into the Black Sea, Kherson is a strategically important region that connects Crimea, which Putin annexed in 2014, and controls the peninsula’s water supply. Other bridges on the Dnipro have also been damaged, including the Antonivsky Bridge, the main crossing. Video posted by Russian military bloggers on Telegram on Friday showed that parts of the bridge had sunk into the river, forcing some Russian troops to cross on pontoons. Ukraine has warned that some Russian forces may still be present in the city and the surrounding area. Defense intelligence officials said Friday they suspected the remaining Russian forces had dressed in civilian clothes to avoid capture. Russian forces are building defensive positions on the east bank of the Dnipro, and Russian officials announced they had established a new administrative capital in the Kherson region at Henichesk, a port city on the Sea of Azov and deep behind Russian lines. Separately, the Institute for the Study of War reported that Russia had established a new military base about 70 kilometers southeast of Kherson, describing it as “an attempt to protect its equipment from the Ukrainian Himari [artillery rocket system] strikes.”
