What did Kherson's liberation change on 11 November 2022?

What did it mean when Ukrainian troops walked into Kherson? On 11 November 2022, they entered the city, ending its eight-month occupation by Russian forces. Kherson was the only Ukrainian regional capital that Russia captured during the invasion, so its return carried weight well beyond the city itself.

The entry came at the end of a rapid few days. 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 southern counteroffensive that produced this outcome had been launched by Ukraine on 29 August 2022 with the aim of expelling Russian forces from the occupied southern regions of Kherson and Mykolaiv oblasts.

The final approach

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

By 11 November 2022, as Russian forces withdrew from the west of the Dnieper, they destroyed the Antonivka Road Bridge. The retreat was therefore accompanied by the demolition of one of the river crossings behind them.

On 9 November 2022, Russian officials also said that 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.

Support from abroad

The fighting in the south was under way alongside fresh Western support. On 10 November 2022, the Pentagon announced its latest $400 million weapons package for Ukraine. It included four AN/TWQ-1 Avenger surface-to-air missile systems, Stinger missiles, 400 grenade launchers, 100 humvees, and artillery rounds and small arms ammunition.

Diplomatic and economic currents

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

A day of reversal

Taken together, the events of 11 November 2022 mark a turning point on the southern front: a regional capital returned to Ukrainian hands, a retreating army cutting the bridge behind it, and a war whose reach extended to Western arms deliveries, diplomatic bans and global food bills.