Ukraine claims major gains as Russia exits Kherson

By James FitzGerald, KYIV Ukraine

The Ukrainian army says it has made major gains over the last day around Kherson, after Russia said it was withdrawing from the southern city.

Ukrainian troops say they have taken back the key town of Snihurivka, 50km (30 miles) to the north of Kherson.

Kyiv has also claimed big pushes on two fronts near Kherson, including advances of 7km in some places.

Russia says it has started to exit the city - its top gain in the invasion - but the process could take weeks.

Wednesday's announcement was viewed as a major setback for Moscow's war effort, though Ukrainian officials were sceptical - warning that the manoeuvre could be a trap.

There was no immediate evidence of any mass-scale Russian withdrawal from Kherson.

Ukraine's commander-in-chief Valeriy Zaluzhny said on Thursday that he could not confirm or deny the pull-out - but said his own forces had made important advances.

Gen Zaluzhny said his soldiers had driven forward on two fronts on the western bank of the Dnipro river - an area of land which encompasses Kherson - taking control of 12 settlements.

The 7km gains were made "during the past day", he said, as troops advanced along a northern-eastern axis and a separate western axis.

Video footage showed soldiers being greeted by locals in a square, apparently after entering the town of Snihurivka.

Snihurivka sits at a major road junction and is a rail hub for Mykolaiv region, which borders Kherson to the north and west.

The regional administration in Mykolaiv posted on the Telegram messaging app touting "lots of good news today".

It fuelled speculation on Thursday night that Ukrainian troops had reached the outskirts of Kherson itself, after cryptically posting a single letter - "ch" in Ukrainian.

This was taken as a possible clue that troops had reached the suburban village of Chornobayivka. - BBC