Kherson returns to Ukrainian hands after eight months

What did it mean when Ukrainian troops walked into Kherson? On 11 November 2022, they entered the city, ending eight months of occupation by Russian forces. Kherson was the only Ukrainian regional capital that Russia had captured during the invasion.

A retreat announced two days earlier

The day followed a rapid sequence of events. On 9 November 2022, Russian forces announced a retreat from the city of Kherson, from the western bank of the Dnieper River in Mykolaiv Oblast, and from the western part of Kherson Oblast. The same day, Russian officials said Kirill Stremousov, deputy head of the Kherson military–civilian administration, had been killed in a car crash while travelling to Crimea. Russian President Vladimir Putin issued a decree posthumously awarding him the Order of Courage.

On 10 November 2022, the Ukrainian military said it had recaptured Snihurivka in Mykolaiv Oblast, the last city in that oblast still held by Russia. Ukrainian troops also retook the village of Kyselivka, advancing to within nine miles of the centre of Kherson. Explosions were reported near the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant.

Entering the city

By 11 November 2022, Ukrainian troops were inside Kherson. The advance was part of the southern counteroffensive, which the background describes as having been launched on 29 August 2022 to expel Russian forces from the southern regions of Kherson and Mykolaiv oblasts.

As they retreated from the west of the Dnieper, Russian forces destroyed the Antonivka Road Bridge on the same day.

Weapons and sanctions

The military backdrop included new Western support. On 10 November 2022, the Pentagon announced that it would send four AN/TWQ-1 Avenger surface-to-air missile systems, Stinger missiles, 400 grenade launchers, 100 humvees, and additional artillery rounds and small arms ammunition. The items were part of a $400 million weapons package for the Ukrainian military.

On 11 November 2022, the Russian Foreign Ministry banned 200 U.S. citizens from entering Russia. The list included White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre and three siblings of President Joe Biden.

The wider economic toll

The war's economic effects were also in view that day. The Food and Agriculture Organization forecast that by the end of 2022, global spending on food imports would rise 10 percent from the previous year to an all-time high of US$1.94 trillion, citing currency depreciations and the war in Ukraine. It said the bulk of the increase would come from high-income countries, and that import volumes were also expected to rise.

The background describes 2022 as a year of significant food price inflation and shortages in several regions, with the Russian invasion of Ukraine among a number of contributing factors alongside pandemic-related supply chain disruption, an energy crisis, floods, heatwaves and drought.

The events of 11 November 2022 combined a major shift on the southern front with a new US arms package, a Russian entry ban on US citizens and a warning about global food costs.