Ukrainians celebrate soldiers retaking Kherson, Russia's latest defeat

Jubilant residents welcomed Ukrainian troops arriving in the centre of Kherson on Friday after Russia abandoned the only regional capital it had captured since its invasion began in February.

"Today is a historic day. We are getting the south of the country back, we are getting Kherson back," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in an evening video address.

"As of now, our defenders are on the outskirts of the city, and we are very close to entering. But special units are already in the city," he said.

Russia said it had withdrawn 30,000 troops across the Dnipro River without losing a single soldier. But Ukrainians painted a picture of a chaotic retreat, with Russian troops ditching their uniforms, dropping weapons and drowning while trying to flee.

The withdrawal marked the third major Russian retreat of 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.