The below information is disputed, and perhaps NYT is basing it on incorrect or misinterpreted information.
NYTimes is reporting that “Russia has lost full control of Kherson, the Pentagon says.”
Russian forces no longer have full control of Kherson, the first major Ukrainian city that President Vladimir V. Putin’s forces managed to capture as part of his invasion, a senior Pentagon official said on Friday.
Ukrainian forces are now fighting fiercely in Kherson and pushing back Russian gains there, again making the strategically important port city “contested territory,” the official told reporters during a briefing.
I’ve been waiting for this news for a very long time. For the last few weeks we’ve been watching the videos of brave Ukrainians in the occupied Kherson demonstrating against the occupiers. They carried Ukrainian flags, shouted at the soldiers, didn’t flinch in the face of automatic gunfire in the air, got in the face of the Russian soldiers, and even got shot. God knows how much they’ve endured in that city out of sight of the cameras.
This is the city where Ukraine has bombed the air base for 8 times and counting now, destroying a ridiculous amount of Russian army helicopters and reportedly even a General last night.
“In Chornobayivka near Kherson, the Ukrainian military killed Lieutenant General and Commander of the 49th Russian Army Yakov Ryazantsev. And it happened, you will laugh a lot, at the Chornobayivka airfield, Oleksiy Arestovych said.”
Then came the first glimmers of hope on the Southern front when Ukrainians stopped the Russian advance on Mykolaiv. Then Ukrainian troops started pushing the Russians back eastwards, to the North and West of Kherson. I’ve been waiting for this news. Finally the fight is on!
Friday, Mar 25, 2022 · 7:27:08 PM +00:00 · jbarker2
This information is unfortunately being credibly disputed. See Kos update:
The NY Times is citing a Pentagon source to claim that Russia no longer has full control of Kherson. Of course, the article has gone full viral, because it would be great news … if it was true. To be totally clear, the claim is false. At best, it is deceiving. The city of Kherson is under full Russian control. The airport is, according to all official sources, still under Russian control, but being shelled by Ukrainians.
The only way the NYT report makes sense is if the Pentagon source was speaking about Kherson Oblast, the state/county administrative region. And for sure, the fact that Ukraine is challenging the airport, by definition, means that Russia is no longer under full control of the region. It is being contested.
Of course we all hope this was true, but now we’ll have to wait for Ukrainian verification. Let’s hope that we’ll get there sooner rather than later.