November 10, 2022 Russia-Ukraine news

The Biden administration authorized an additional $400 million in security aid for Ukraine on Thursday.

The new package includes missiles for HAWK and Avenger air defense systems, more ammunition for High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS), grenade launchers, mortar and artillery rounds, and other battlefield supplies.

The package marks the 25th time the US has sent security assistance to Ukraine using presidential drawdown authority. The Defense Department pulls the weapons and equipment from US inventories to send abroad, instead of purchasing new weapons from manufacturers.

The new aid comes as Ukraine claims big wins in its southern counteroffensive. But Kyiv remains concerned that retreating Russian soldiers could turn the regional capital of Kherson into a “city of death” on their way out.

CNN's Tim Lister and Mick Krever contributed to this report.

Ukraine's Stugna volunteer military unit on Thursday paid tribute to a British man who the battalion said had died fighting against Russian forces alongside the Ukrainians in occupied territories.

"A man of goodwill, a brave British man, Simon Lingard, died in the Donetsk oblast. A true warrior who left Britain in the most challenging time for Ukraine and came to fight against Russian evil together with our soldiers," the battalion said in a post on its Telegram account.

The all-volunteer infantry military unit said they met Lingard in the spring in the Kharkiv region, but later their military units split up in different directions of the frontline.  

"The last time we spoke with Simon was just a few days before his death. Our fighters from the ‘Stugna’ Battalion accidentally met with him in Zaporizhzhia and even planned to work together again," the batallion said, adding that they will "avenge" his death.

"Our condolences to Simon's wife and their children and to all the people of the United Kingdom. We will never forget what Simon Lingard did for us," the unit said.  

The UK government said on Wednesday that a British man had lost his life in Ukraine.

In a statement, the UK Foreign Office said that it was "supporting the family of a British national who has lost his life in Ukraine," but did not reveal the person's name.

The office added that it was in touch with "the local authorities in connection with his death."  

In June, former British Army soldier Jordan Gatley was shot and killed while fighting in Ukraine's Severodonetsk, CNN reported at the time. 

British aid worker Paul Urey died in the Donetsk region of Ukraine earlier this year after the Russian invasion started, CNN has reported.

Ukrainian officials said it is difficult to make contact with civilians in the city of Kherson, which is without any internet connection as Russian forces withdraw to the opposite bank of the Dnipro River.

Halyna Lugova, the head of the Kherson city military administration, described the situation in the city as "tense and difficult."

"There is no Internet connection in the city, hence people with whom I communicate have not been in touch since yesterday (Wednesday)," she said.

She said people in the city were living in fear: 

Lugova said that "people can feel the presence of Russians in the city. There seem to be no (Russian) checkpoints, but people see that the occupiers are in the city," Lugova added.

Lugova said Russian troops were still removing looted equipment from the city on Wednesday night.

"There were trucks, heavy equipment and cars stolen from civilians heading from Snihurivka (a town on the Mykolaiv/Kherson border) towards Antonivskyi bridge," she said.

Lugova said there is no fuel in the city and only partial heating, water and power supply.

She described a city where goods were being bartered in street bazaars amid chronic shortages.

"The medicine supply is insufficient. This is especially true for medicines for diabetics and cancer patients," she said.

Sweden will continue discussions with Turkey to overcome objections raised by Ankara over Stockholm's bid to join the NATO alliance, Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom said Thursday.

''Sweden is working diligently towards a quick and seamless entry into NATO,'' Billstrom told reporters in Berlin, following a meeting with his German counterpart Annalena Baerbock.

While all 30 NATO members formally invited Sweden and Finland to join the alliance after approving their applications back in summer, Turkey and Hungary have yet to ratify the accession protocol.

Finland, Sweden and Turkey signed a joint memorandum in June, when Helsinki and Stockholm committed to address Ankara’s security concerns around terrorism and arms exports.

Billstrom said that dialogue would continue ''on all levels'' and that he would go to Turkey this autumn, while in the meantime, talks between authorities in Sweden, Turkey and Finland would continue.

Baerbock said that Berlin sent a clear signal to Hungary, saying that there is ''no gray area'' in the terms of ratification of Sweden and Finland's accession to NATO.

''For all our security — not only for Finland and Sweden — but for our European security, it is important that these ratifications are carried out together by the end of the year, '' she said.

Ukraine’s military said it had retaken swathes of territory in Kherson on Thursday after Moscow ordered a partial withdrawal from the area, though officials in Kyiv warned that retreating Russian soldiers could turn the regional capital into a “city of death” on their way out.

A military spokesperson said that in just 24 hours, Ukrainian forces had pushed the front line in the key southern region of Kherson forward by 7 kilometers (4.3 miles) and taken control of more than 260 square kilometers of territory (100 square miles). Kyiv said it took control of the towns of Snihurivka and Kyselivka, both of which sit along key roads leading into Kherson city, the regional capital. Kyselivka is located about 15 kilometers (9 miles) away from Kherson city.

Moscow on Wednesday said its troops would withdraw from the west bank of the Dnipro River, an area that includes Kherson city, in one of the biggest military setbacks for Russia since its invasion began. A spokesperson for the Russian Defense Ministry said that effort began the following day.

Officials in Kyiv, however, have treated the announcement with skepticism. Kherson is one of four Ukrainian regions that Russia attempted to annex in violation of international law, and some doubt that Moscow would give up fighting for a territory filled with people that Russian President Vladimir Putin vowed would be Russian citizens “forever.”

Ukrainian officials are also concerned that the Russian military will embrace scorched-earth tactics and leave behind a trail of devastation in the wake of their withdrawal. Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, alleged Thursday that Russia “wants to turn Kherson into a ‘city of death.’”

Ukrainian military spokesperson Vladyslav Nazarov said Russian forces were continuing to shell areas recaptured by the Ukrainian military and attempted to strike humanitarian aid distribution points.

However, signs of the retreat have begun to emerge. Gen. Mark Milley, the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Washington had seen the “beginnings” of a Russian withdrawal in Kherson. Satellite imagery taken last week of Russian-occupied Crimea showed trenches being dug near the border with Kherson, a possible sign that Russian military leaders are nervous about the progress of Ukraine’s counteroffensive.

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Ukraine claims big gains in south, but fears retreating Russians will turn Kherson into 'city of death' | CNN

UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace on Thursday expressed caution about Moscow ordering a partial withdrawal from occupied parts of Ukraine’s Kherson region, saying "we’ll believe it when we see it,” according to PA media.  

He added that it would be a "significant psychological blow" for Russian troops if they left the area, PA reported.  

"Of course, this is Russia, so we haven't yet seen them leave en masse," Wallace said.  

As Russian forces partially withdraw in the Kherson region, Ukrainian authorities in neighboring Mykolaiv are hoping for some respite from the persistent missile attacks that have hit the city over the past few months.

Vitalii Kim, head of Mykolaiv regional administration, said on his Telegram channel that there is "lots of good news for today. We are preparing to reconnect electricity, heat, humanitarian aid kits, medicines, etc."

The last few settlements in the Mykolaiv region occupied by the Russians have now been liberated, but Kim said, "We continue to remain silent, because it is all the military's business." 

No groups or journalists would be allowed to visit liberated villages, he said.

Kim also had a message for people who had left the now-liberated town of Snihurivka: "Do not rush to return, it is too early."

An image from the Russian-occupied Ukrainian city of Melitopol shows smoke clouding the evening skyline.

The Ukrainian mayor of the city, Ivan Fedorov, said on Telegram that there were "4 loud explosions that the whole city heard."

Fedorov, who is not in Melitopol himself, said, "we are clarifying the details."

The city has been occupied by the Russians since the early days of the invasion but in recent months, military targets and railroads have been regularly attacked by long-range Ukrainian artillery. 

The Russian-appointed "head" of Kherson vowed on Thursday to defend all territory of the region, despite Russia’s decision to transfer its troops to the east bank of the Dnipro River, according to Russian state media RIA Novosti.  

“Yes, it’s hard for us now, but still we will defend our land. Our land in the Kherson region, all its territory, all its people will definitely be part of the Russian Federation,” Vladimir Saldo in a video address shared with RIA Novosti. 

Despite Saldo's claims, a number of social media videos from the west bank of the Kherson region found by CNN show that Ukrainian troops are advancing and appear to be encountering little resistance. 

Saldo added that the situation in the region is now turbulent, and Russian leadership is forced to make "difficult decisions," adding that "justice will be restored, because it is worth fighting for." 

On Thursday, the deputy head of the Russian-installed Kherson regional administration, Ekaterina Gubareva, told RIA that civilians retain the opportunity to leave from the west-bank part of the Kherson region, despite the organized departure already being stopped. 

CNN's Tim Lister contributed reporting to this post.