Russia have declared a new “temporary capital” for the Kherson region after Ukrainian troops retook the city.
The state-owned Russian news agency Tass reported that Alexander Fomin, a member of the imposed administration in occupied Kherson, said that Henichesk was now the temporary administrative capital of Kherson.
It comes as Kherson residents have been celebrating in the streets.
Locals told CNN they “felt free” and it was “amazing” to see their hometown liberated after eight months under Russian control.
The withdrawal marked the third major Russian retreat in the war and the first to involve yielding such a large occupied city in the face of a major Ukrainian counter-offensive that has retaken parts of the east and south.
Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian president, said Friday, when the retreat was completed, was “a historic day”. He said: “We are getting the south of the country back, we are getting Kherson back.”
However Ukrainian officials warned that “the war is not over”.
