Soldiers retaking Kherson is celebrated in Ukraine as the latest setback for Russia

"This day is historic. Volodymyr Zelensky, the president of Ukraine, delivered a video speech that evening and declared, "We are getting the south of the nation back, we are getting Kherson back."

We are now extremely near to entering the city, while our defenders are still outside. But there are already specific teams in the city," he said.

Russia claimed that it had crossed the Dnipro River with 30,000 forces without losing a single man.

However, Ukrainians portrayed a chaotic retreat in which Russian soldiers abandoned their uniforms and weapons and drowned as they attempted to flee.

The retreat was the third significant Russian pullback of the conflict and the first to include giving up such a sizable occupied city in the face of a significant Ukrainian counteroffensive that has retaken areas of the east and south.

On Kherson city's centre plaza, as shown in video footage verified by Reuters, scores of civilians cheered and shouted victory cries as the ostensibly first Ukrainian military to arrive took selfies among the crowd.

A female soldier was carried off the ground by two men while being carried on their shoulders. Some locals covered their bodies in Ukrainian flags. One man was joyfully crying.

The military intelligence service of Ukraine declared Kherson to be once again under Ukrainian control and ordered any remaining Russian troops to leave before Kiev's forces entered the city.

In the square, locals had erected Ukrainian flags as word of the end of the more than eight-month occupation spread.

"Praise be to Ukraine! Praise be to the Heroes! One man yelled, "Glory to the Nation!" in another footage that Reuters confirmed.

Before Kiev's soldiers approached the city, the military intelligence service of Ukraine proclaimed Kherson to be under Ukrainian control once more and ordered any remaining Russian troops to depart.

Locals had raised Ukrainian flags in the square as word of the occupation's more than eight-month conclusion spread.

"Glory to Ukraine! Glory to the Heroes! A man can be heard shouting, "Glory to the Nation!" in additional video that Reuters has confirmed.