A Ukrainian flag has been raised in the city of Kherson after Russia completed its retreat of troops from the west bank of the river dividing the region of the same name.

In a statement carried by Russia‘s state news agencies, the defence ministry said the withdrawal was finished at 5am on Friday and that no military equipment was left on the western bank.

Areas the Russian military withdrew from include the city of Kherson, the only regional capital Moscow seized during its eight-month war in Ukraine.

Ukrainian flag ‘raised in centre of Kherson’ – war latest

A member of the Kherson regional council said residents are being asked to stay at home while searches for any remaining Russian soldiers are carried out.

They also said many Russian troops drowned while trying to leave Kherson.

After the Russian retreat, a picture posted on social media appeared to show a Ukrainian flag being raised in the centre of the city by residents.

Recapturing the city could provide Ukraine a launching pad for supplies and troops to try to win back other lost territory in the south, including Crimea, which Moscow seized in 2014.

A Kremlin spokesman has refused to acknowledge the retreat as humiliating for Vladimir Putin, the president.

Dmitry Peskov said Moscow continues to view the Kherson region as part of Russia.

“It is a subject of the Russian Federation – it is legally fixed and defined,” he said.

“There are no changes and there can be no changes.”

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Shortly before the Russian announcement, the office of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy described the situation in the Kherson region as “difficult”.

It reported Russian shelling of some of the villages and towns Ukrainian forces reclaimed in recent weeks during their counteroffensive in the Kherson region.

A road bridge that links Kherson to the east bank of the Dnipro River also appears to have collapsed.

Ukraine’s public broadcaster, Suspilne, quoted local residents confirming the news on Friday.

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It is not immediately clear what caused the apparent collapse, but Russian media reports suggested the bridge was blown up after the withdrawal.

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