By Roman Rukomeda Est. 4min 14-11-2022 Russians had to openly announce their retreat from Kherson as they have no capacity to hold the city any longer [Twitter] Euractiv is part of the Trust Project >>> Print Email Facebook X LinkedIn WhatsApp Telegram The liberation of Kherson from Russian invaders has breathed new hope into the war as winter approaches and could lead soon to the liberation of other key regions, including Crimea and Donbas, writes Roman Rukomeda. Roman Rukomeda is a Ukrainian political analyst. This is his 71st account of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The 260th day of the massive Russian aggression against Ukraine has come to an end. The top news of this week is the Ukrainian liberation of the Kherson region on the right bank of the Dnipro river and the regional centre – the city of Kherson. The Ukrainian Armed forces forced Russia to leave in quite a hurry from one of its main strongholds. The Russian retreat from this city under the attacks of the Ukrainian Army is a significant victory for Ukraine. Russians had to openly announce their withdrawal as they could not hold the city any longer, and their troops (about 30,000 in that area) could not deter the Ukrainian offensive for a long time. As the Russians leave, they continue to perform crimes and atrocities against the civilian population. They continue to kill, rape, rob and destroy civilian infrastructures such as energy stations, TV and mobile connection centres, heating plants, and water pipelines. They are also intensively mining the city of Kherson and its suburbs, including apartments, official buildings, and industrial units. There are hundreds of cases when Russians enter people’s houses and kill whole families taking their personal belongings, cars and even clothes. While some Western politicians appeal to Ukraine to negotiate, they should consider all the crimes that have been and continue to be committed. The only way forward for Ukraine is to liberate all captured territories and inflict a military defeat on Russia- something supported by 86% of the population, according to the latest poll results. The coming winter will do little to quell the spirit of Ukrainians their army. After Kherson, it will be the turn of Donetsk, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia, then Crimea. Or Crimea could be first, followed by Donbas, depending on how the situation plays out on the battlefield. For Ukraine, there is no other way to restore its peace, relative stability, and confidence in the future. Also, only after that will it be possible to intensify the internal rebuilding of the country and its boosted integration into the EU and NATO. I agree with many Ukrainian experts who say the only real guarantee of Ukraine’s security from future Russian attacks will be integration into NATO. In Kyiv and many other Ukrainian cities, towns and villages, we have a shortage of electricity, so each day, there are several times when the electricity is turned off for 3-4 hours. It brings many inconveniences to people’s personal schedules and demands a new mode of our internal organisation, but for now, we have no other options. Because of attacks by Russian terrorists on energy objects, 40% of the Ukrainian national energy system is damaged now. In general, there is a positive mood dominating among Ukrainians now despite all difficulties and sufferings as the Ukrainian army continues to liberate territories and push back against Russia. The liberation of Kherson is a massive victory for Ukraine though there are still a lot of battles ahead.