suddenly felt welcome. this is newsday on the bbc. i m karishma vawani in singapore. our headlines: russia is retreating its military forces from the city of kherson following a sustained counter attack by ukrainian forces trying to recapture it. the votes are still being counted following the us midterm elections it s still not clear who will take control of congress. leaders of asian countries will be meeting in cambodia this week for the asean summit. the summits are expected to focus on the global econonmy, amid rising inflation and the cost of living crisis. us presidentjoe biden is also expected to attend the meeting. to tell me more about the event, i m joined now by yongwook ryu,
pocket of land russians control west of the dnipro river, which they would have to leave if they pulled out of kherson city. leaving kherson would be a devastating defeat for russia. it was their biggest single prize since they invaded in february. in moscow, general sergei surovikin, commander of russian forces in ukraine, made the announcement. he told a televised meeting of senior military leaders, including the defence minister, that russia could not properly supply its troops on the west bank of the river. translation: i understand this is a very difficult decision, - but at the same time we will preserve the lives of our service personnel, and in general the combat capability of the group of forces. ukraine s first response was to warn against premature celebrations. this week, we have been talking to ukrainian soldiers and kherson residents to try to gauge the mood there. you can t drive into kherson from here because there
more legendary driver. welcome to our viewers on pbs in america and around the globe. just weeks after president putin announced he was annexing moscow has said it s pulling its troops out kherson is the only provincial capital russia has managed to capture since the start of its invasion. but over the past weeks ukraine has been conducting a counter offensive to push the occupiers out of the area. the commander of russian forces in ukraine called the pullout a difficult decision. the bbc s international editor jeremy bowen sent this report from the ukrainian front line. for days now, ukrainian soldiers on the kherson perimeter have been dismissing reports that the russians
for days now, ukrainian soldiers on the kherson perimeter have been dismissing reports that the russians were going to pull back. when we visited a mobile unit on the flatlands between kherson and mykolaiv the closest ukrainian controlled city the soldiers said they would not believe the russians were leaving until they could see them go. they took us on a mission to attack russian positions. they guide their soviet era artillery with a commercially available drone made in china. their command car is a 15 year old bmw now it s on bomb runs, passing on positions from the drone to adjust the gunners aim.
kherson this week were very confident, not losing sleep over moscow s intentions. with or without the formal withdrawal announcement, these men and their commander believe theirflexible, fast operations and continued nato support cannot be beaten. translation: step-by-step, we will reach victory. - we will not rush, losing people on our way. the russian troops are scared. they didn t expect so much resistance from our side. ukrainian soldiers will suspect russia s motives until they can drive into kherson. it might be some kind of disinformation strategy, or they believe the russians might be trying to sucker them into a trap. the fact remains, the hit and run war here on the front lines near kherson goes on. one question a fighting retreat requires military skills russia has not demonstrated since the invasion. will moscow try to negotiate safe passage out of kherson for its men? jeremy bowen,