Ukraine celebrates as Vladimir Putin’s forces flee Kherson; ‘doomsday’ torpedo test fails
Russian forces have been forced to flee after another embarrassing setback for Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine.
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Ukraine celebrated the capture of the strategically-significant city of Kherson as citizens who fled when the invasion hailed the “liberation”.
Thousands began converged in a Kyiv square draped in flags, popping champagne corks and hugging each other.
“I didn’t believe it at first. I thought it would take weeks or months, a few hundred metres at a time. And in just one day, they’ve made it into Kherson. It’s the best surprise ever,” said 41-year-old Artem Lukiv.
“I told my kids, ‘That’s it. We’ve been liberated,’ and we all started crying,” he said, hugging his two children and a Ukrainian flag at the same time.
Under the square’s victory column commemorating Ukraine’s independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, Kherson’s displaced residents belted out the national anthem in unison and wiped their tears.
Then they chanted the numbers of the first Ukrainian army brigades to enter Kherson - the first major urban hub to fall to the Russians and the first to be taken back.
“We’re really happy... Our soldiers are gods,” Lukiv said.
“We’ve been waiting for this for nine months. Kherson belongs to Ukraine and it always will.”
‘DOOMSDAY’ WEAPON FAILS
It comes as Russia’s attempted test of its “doomsday torpedo” failed in the Arctic Sea, according to intelligence sources.
US intelligence sources said the world’s largest submarine, the Belgorod, prepared to test the nuclear-capable torpedo before returning to port likely due to due to technical issues.
“This can be seen as part of the bigger picture and Russia’s recent military practice, sending ill-trained and under-equipped troops to Ukraine,” an anonymous intelligence source told CNN.
“Russia’s military industry is going through difficult times, and we can also see that Western sanctions on high-tech military goods are having an effect and must continue.”
The nuclear-powered “Poseidon” torpedo drone is said to be capable of circling the globe indefinitely under remote control and can trigger a tsunami that could destroy major coastal cities.
Vladimir Putin said in 2018 that the new, 30-000 tonne weapon would be effectively invulnerable to missile defence systems.
“The nuclear power unit is unique for its small size while offering an amazing power-weight ratio,” Putin said during a State of the Nation speech.
“It is a hundred times smaller than the units that power modern submarines but is still more powerful and can switch into combat mode, that is to say, reach maximum capacity, 200 times faster.”
US officials told the outlet that a second test could be attempted before waters in the Arctic Sea freeze over in the winter, adding that they didn’t expect any test to include a nuclear detonation.
UKRAINE CLAIMS ‘VICTORY’ IN KHERSON
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba called Russia’s withdrawal of its troops from the southern city of Kherson, which it confirmed on Friday, “another important victory”.
“Ukraine is gaining another important victory right now and [this] proves that whatever Russia says or does, Ukraine will win,” Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba wrote on social media.
Russia said Friday it had completed its withdrawal of forces from the western bank of the Dnipro river, after Moscow said it had made the “difficult decision” to withdraw as Ukraine advances.
“Today at 5 o’clock in the morning Moscow time (0200 GMT), the transfer of Russian troops to the left bank of the Dnipro River was completed. Not a single piece of military equipment and weapons was left on the right bank,” the Russian defence ministry said in a statement on social media.
The Antonivskiy bridge, the only nearby road crossing from the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson to the Russian-controlled eastern bank of the Dnipro River, has collapsed, Ukraine’s public broadcaster quoted local residents as saying on Friday.
The Suspilne broadcaster published a photograph showing whole sections of the bridge missing. The next road crossing across the Dnipro is more than 70 km (43 miles) from Kherson city.
It was not immediately clear what had caused the bridge’s collapse. Russia announced on Wednesday it was retreating from the west bank of the Dnipro River to the other side.
The Kremlin said the city was still part of Russia even though Moscow announced its troops were retreating as Ukrainian troops advanced.
“This is a subject of the Russian Federation. There are no changes in this and there cannot be changes,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters, after defence officials in Moscow this week announced the draw-down of its forces in the region.
In the village of Snihurivka, about 55 km north of Kherson city, a small group of Ukrainian soldiers was shown on Ukraine’s state TV being greeted by joyous residents.
PUTIN TO MISS G20
Russian President Vladimir Putin will miss the G20 summit because he fears being assassinated, according to one pro-Kremlin commentator.
Sergey Markov said Mr Putin is snubbing next week’s G20 summit in Bali over concerns he’ll be taken out by his critics, according to The Sun.
Posting hours after Russian troops were forced into a humiliating retreat in Kherson, Markov wrote: “1) There is a big possibility of an assassination attempt on Putin from the special services of the US, Britain and Ukraine.
“2) A possibility of humiliating situations. For example, some disabled social activist knocks Putin down – as if accidentally – and all world media splash a picture with a caption ‘President of Russia is down on all fours’.
“I am certain this kind of situation is being planned by some completely mad Westerners.
“3. After defeat in Kherson, Russia’s status as a great state is questionable. They will be putting pressure on, and demand soft capitulation.”
Mr Markov is among a growing chorus of voices lambasting the regime over its latest military setback.
“If Russia wants to win, we must switch the economy into a military regime,” he said.
“This decision is already six months late. We have got to be tougher. Tougher.
“Drones, communication, missiles and shells must be produced by our factories 24/7.”
Moscow’s embassy in Jakarta confirmed the news that Mr Putin would not take part in the summit.
It was the first Russian verification that the under-fire Russian leader would not travel to Bali for the summit, which would have put him in the same room as US President Joe Biden for the first time since the invasion of Ukraine in February.
Mr Biden has called Mr Putin a “war criminal” and ruled out meeting him in Bali if he went unless the conversation involved the release of Americans held in Russia.
“I can confirm that [Foreign Minister] Sergei Lavrov will lead the Russian delegation to the G20. President Putin’s program is still being worked out, he could participate virtually,” said Yulia Tomskaya, the embassy’s chief of protocol.
The decision follows months of speculation about Mr Putin’s participation at the November 15-16 summit.
It comes as Putin supporters unleashed their anger at the Kremlin over its latest battlefield setback after Russian troops retreated from Kherson and America’s top general claimed that more than 100,000 Russian troops had either been killed or wounded in Ukraine.
He said Kyiv “probably” suffered a similar level of casualties.
Meanwhile, Russia says it’s ready to sit at the negotiating table with Ukraine.
Maria Zakharova, spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, said: “We are still open to negotiations. We have never refused them. We are ready to conduct them, of course, taking into account the current state of affairs.”
KREMLIN IN DAMAGE CONTROL OVER UKRAINE
The Kremlin is expected to try and shield itself from Western condemnation over the war, in which its forces are suffering setbacks in the face of a Ukrainian counteroffensive.
Another source with knowledge of Russia’s G20 planning confirmed that Mr Putin would be replaced by Mr Lavrov.
The person said it was unclear if the Russian leader would attend virtually as “the issue has not been finalised”.
Mr Lavrov walked out of a G20 foreign ministers’ meeting in Bali in July after officials roundly condemned Russia over Ukraine.
Host Indonesia pursues a neutral foreign policy and has rebuffed Western calls to disinvite Russia from the summit.
Indonesian President Joko Widodo had invited the Russian leader despite the invasion, prompting a flurry of Western criticism. In August, he said Mr Putin had accepted that invitation.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is expected to attend virtually. He had threatened to boycott the summit if Mr Putin attended.
Ukraine is not a G20 member.
Experts said Mr Putin’s absence would hurt the summit, with no progress likely to be made on the Ukraine war and its global economic fallout.
“The G20 cannot do much, so it will only be a symbolic forum. Their discussion is always stuck on the issue of war,” said Radityo Dharmaputra, a Russia and eastern Europe expert at Indonesia’s Airlangga University.
“The main issue itself – the war — cannot be discussed and resolved. Fruitful results might come up in bilateral meetings but the rest of it is just the leaders trying to attend in respect for Indonesia as the host.”
While Mr Biden has shunned contact with his Russian counterpart, France has warned against worsening Mr Putin’s isolation on the world stage.
Russia refers to its invasion as a special military operation to “de-Nazify” Ukraine and blames subsequent Western sanctions for the global food and energy crises that followed.
While those sanctions have gnawed at Russia’s war effort, other countries have maintained economic ties with Moscow. India and China stepped up their purchases of Russian oil.
The G20 summit will be the biggest meeting of the bloc since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Fresh from securing a historic third term, Chinese President Xi Jinping is also expected to attend.
The Chinese leader will be looking to shore up Beijing’s global alliances in the face of US competition without close ally Putin in toe.
The talks will be held under the shadow of divisions over the food and energy crises worsened by the Ukraine war, on top of soaring inflation and climate change.
The G20 meetings held in the build-up to the leaders’ meeting all ended without a joint communique.
The summit in Bali next week is also not expected to close with a joint declaration because of disagreements over who is to blame for the global crises.
The Indonesian foreign ministry said “the negotiation for the final document is still ongoing”.
– with AFP
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