International Desk: Russia said it had withdrawn from Ukraine's strategic city of Kherson without losing a single soldier on Friday, The Ukrainian army says it has made major gains over the last day around Kherson.

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Ukrainian troops told that they have taken back the key town of Snihurivka, 50km (30 miles) to the north of Kherson.

Russia says it has started to exit the city - its top gain in the invasion - but the process could take weeks.

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Video footage showed soldiers being greeted by locals in a square, apparently after entering the town of Snihurivka.

In total, Ukrainian troops have recaptured more than 40 settlements from Russian control during their advances in southern Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelensky said.

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Kherson was the first - and only - regional capital to fall into Russian hands after it invaded Ukraine on 24 February.

From late September, it was viewed by the Kremlin as Russian territory - following so-called "referendums" in occupied areas of Ukraine that were widely discredited by the international community.

On Wednesday, Moscow said it was no longer possible to supply the city, saying it would step back from the western bank of the Dnipro - a river which bisects Ukraine.

Notably, Russian President Vladimir Putin did not take part in the televised announcement.

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A Ukrainian presidential adviser said it was too early to celebrate - accusing his enemy of wanting to turn Kherson into a "city of death" by leaving mines and plotting to shell it from afar.

Sun News/MR

Russia withdrawn Ukraine's Kherson gains troops

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