New satellite images have shown the Russians digging lines of defensive trenches on the eastern bank of the Dnipro river.

The positions could allow Russian forces to directly shell Ukraine's forces if they entered Kherson city, following a Russian withdrawal.

As we just heard, UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace warned the world "shouldn't be grateful" for Russia removing its troops from the city.

He said: "It would be good, sound military judgement to move your forces behind a natural boundary - in this case a river - to do that."

Image source, Reuters

UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace has been speaking in Edinburgh about the Russian withdrawal from Kherson.

When asked if he was expecting an increasingly nuclear rhetoric he said that the Russians have been preparing defensive lines along the south of the Dnipro river ahead of moving forces from the northern side across.

"The world shouldn't be grateful for Russia handing back stolen property," Wallace continued. "The Russians did it for two reasons, I think. One is they were under significant military pressure. They weren't able to sustain the defence that they would have liked to have done, and they were pushed back.

"And secondly, it would be good, sound military judgement to move your forces behind a natural boundary - in this case a river - to do that."

Foreign defence ministers were meeting as part of the Joint Expeditionary Force. The event was hosted by Mr Wallace who said the alliance of 10 nations, mainly from the Baltics and Scandinavia, remained steadfast in its support of Ukraine.

The southern Ukrainian region of Mykolaiv has been entirely liberated from Russian control, according to a Ukrainan military colonel.

Roman Kostenko, who is also the chairman of the defence and intelligence committee in Ukraine's parliament, posted a video, external this afternoon stating that Mykolaiv, the last city being held by Russia in the region, is now under Ukrainian control.

The BBC has not been able to verify the claims but if confirmed, the full liberation of Mykolaiv Oblast would be a significant victory for Ukrainian forces.

It comes after the Ukrainian military earlier announced it had recaptured the key town of Snihurivka, located on the border of Kherson and Mykolaiv provinces.

Rob England
Senior data journalist, BBC News

As Russia appears to be taking the significant step of retreating from the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson, a senior US general has given the latest estimate of the death toll of the war between Russia and Ukraine, suggesting about 200,000 soldiers (100,000 on each side) and 40,000 civilians have been killed.

Figures from the UN, external as of 6 November suggest there have been about 6,500 civilian deaths, though officials say this is likely to be a severe underestimate.

Both the Russian and Ukrainian governments have put out unverified estimates of their enemy’s military casualties throughout the war, while giving very little information on their own losses as they attempt to shape the narrative of the conflict.

But experts say discovering the true number of deaths happening while the war is raging is a near-impossible task, given the challenges of identifying those killed against official records.

The UN has said it does not consider figures released by those involved in the conflict to be reliable.

You can read more here.

In the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, a senior government figure warns that Russian forces are booby-trapping Kherson in what he claims is an attempt to turn it into a "city of death".

Mykhailo Podolyak, adviser to President Zelensky's head office, says the Russians are mining "everything they can" and plan to "turn the city into ruins".

"This is what 'Russian world' looks like," he adds in a post on Twitter.

He said earlier that officials in Ukraine saw no signs of Russian troops leaving Kherson without a fight - despite their retreat taking place now.

In his tweet, he says that Russian troops who came to Kherson "came, robbed, celebrated, killed ‘witnesses’, left ruins and left”.

The Dnipro river runs straight through the city of Kherson in southern Ukraine and acts as a lifeline to the middle of the country.

It's a strategically important channel for transporting supplies through Ukraine with many other major cities, including Kyiv, on the banks of the river.

Russia had used the river to move thousands of civilians out of the city by boat before the military withdrawal.

Recently, Ukrainian troops have bombed bridges to slow down Russia's supply lines which will also hinder the withdrawal as thousands of Russian troops must try and across the river.

The withdrawal of Russia troops from Kherson is a reason for optimism but "we have to be careful not to jump to any conclusions", an advisor to the Ukrainian defence minister says.

Yuriy Sak says it's "too early to celebrate" what Russia has termed a "manoeuvre" of units to the other side of the Dnipro river.

"Every time Russians make a so-called gesture of goodwill, and 'regroup' their forces, it is because of the super-efficient Ukrainian armed forces," Sak told BBC Radio 4's World at One programme.

He would not be drawn on whether the move was a trap by Russia, saying Ukraine will "not try to read the minds of the enemy" and will instead focus on intelligence to guide their military operations.

"We have been saying since day one of this aggressive war against Ukraine, our goal is the complete liberation of our land and we are fighting tooth and nail for every metre, every village, every town," he said.

James Waterhouse
Ukraine correspondent, reporting from Kyiv

If you think a peace deal is a long way off, you’re probably right.

President Zelensky’s previous conditions included Russia completely withdrawing, to pay damages and for there to be a change of leadership in Moscow.

However, that last clause appears to have been dropped. Ukrainian officials have signalled a deal with Putin wouldn’t be impossible.

It’s hard to see though, how Russia could agree to these terms.

Moscow says it’s open to talks, but Kyiv’s called that a “smokescreen”.

The US has denied claims it’s pressured Zelensky to soften his stance, but one of its top officers has suggested the winter conditions might bring an opportunity to negotiate peace.

“There has to be a mutual recognition military victory may be not achievable through military means,” said General Mark Milley.

Therefore, the war would have to end through a deal.

President Zelensky has long found the idea of compromise politically unpalatable, but it seems the US is keen for him to appear to want to talk.

We reported earlier on remarks made by the Ukrainian military's commander-in-chief Valeriy Zaluzhny, saying he could neither confirm nor deny Russia's withdrawal from Kherson.

Going back to Zaluzhny's Telegram post, though, some of his commentary is more direct - especially now that we know the retreat has begun.

He says Russian troops were "left with no other option than to flee" Kherson, due to the hard work of his men, including recapturing up to "1,381sq km" worth of territory.

Ukrainian fighters destroyed their enemy's supply lines and will "continue the offensive operation according to our plan," Zaluzhny adds.

Moscow has described the situation as a "manoeuvring" of its men - not a withdrawal - but Kyiv disagrees. That's no surprise, claims and counterclaims have been a major feature of this war.

Catherine Byaruhanga
BBC News, in Kyiv

Image source, .

There’s a proud yet cautious tone in Ukrainian local media following Russia’s decision to pull its troops out of Kherson.

Oleksyi Arestovych, a popular blogger and advisor to President Zelensky said in a Facebook post, external it was the might of Ukraine’s army that forced Russia’s withdrawal.

He wrote: “The Russian army did not leave Kherson. It was knocked out of Kherson by the Defence Forces of Ukraine.”

However, Arestovych believes the military battles on the right bank of the Dnipro river, where Kherson is located, will continue for some time.

Ukrainska Pravda, external, the most popular online news platform in Ukraine questioned whether the Russian withdrawal may be a ruse.

In a front-page article, it said: “If Shoigu's [Russia’s defence minister] statement turns out to be true, it could take at least a few days for the Russians to cross the left bank of the (Dnipro river).”

Image source, EPA

In a phone call today, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky agreed any Russian withdrawal from the occupied city of Kherson would demonstrate "strong progress" for Ukrainian forces, Sunak's office has said.

Both also said it was right to express caution about the withdrawal "until the Ukrainian flag was raised over the city", a spokesperson for the PM added.

"The prime minister praised the bravery of the Ukrainian armed forces and reiterated the UK's unwavering military, economic and political support."

Russian troops are withdrawing from Kherson - the only major Ukrainian city to be captured since the war began.

“This is a huge morale boost,” the Ukrainian MP Oleksiy Honcharenko told BBC World News.

While it was too early to say Ukraine had won the war, the withdrawal of Russian troops from Kherson means Russia has lost the war, he said.

Paul Kirby
Europe digital editor

While all the talk is of Russia starting its withdrawal of troops from areas of Kherson on the west bank of the River Dnipro, it's worth comparing with what the Ukrainians are saying on the ground.

Ukrainian military commander-in-chief Valeriy Zaluzhny says he cannot confirm or deny the Russian pullout but he has said his forces have made big gains in the past 24 hours.

This morning they claimed a significant victory, announcing they had recaptured the key town of Snihurivka 50km (30 miles) to the north of Kherson city. It's just outside Kherson region and is a major rail hub for the neighbouring Mykolaiv area - and it was included in Russia's annexations at the end of September.

Importantly, it sits at a big junction on the road to Kherson city and it lies on the Inhulets river.

Gen Zaluzhny says they have also made significant gains in the past 24 hours on two fronts on the western bank of the Dnipro river. They have advanced 7km in their axis from the north-eastern side, he says, as they push down towards Beryslav. And from the western side, the commander says they have also pushed forward 7km in just one day. That's a total of 264 sq km of territory recaptured in a short period.

It isn't proof of a Russian retreat but it does indicate things are moving fast on the southern front.

People living along the Dnipro river have endured attacks and hardship as Ukraine and Russia fight for territory.

Villagers in Novooleksandrivka and Osokorivka have been giving accounts of their daily struggles.

Image source, Reuters

Tamara Sevastionova's house was destroyed in the fighting. She told Reuters news agency that she doesn't like talking about the war as it makes her cry.

Speaking about the Russians she said: "These rascals and their filth... Why doesn't anyone strangle Putin already? For how much longer will Putin fight?"

Image source, Reuters

Villager Serhii Oleksandrovskyi points to a crater in his land.

"I was standing in my garden, when 15m (50ft) from me something landed... We stood here with our neighbour, but who hit us nobody knows."

Image source, Reuters

Vadym Rusliakov helps distribute water to people in the area. The lack of electricity means it's hard to pump the water from the ground.

"There is one well for the whole village over there. I think they cleaned the well, but there's not much water in it. One well for the whole village."

Image source, Reuters

Petro Drel's house and garden has been hit by bombs several times.

He said: "The destruction started in May. Four shells landed in the yard. Two landed over there, and then here, and here, which damaged all of this. I don't even count anymore."

As we've been reporting, Russia has announced it plans to withdraw from the occupied Ukrainian city of Kherson.

However, a deputy chief of the main operational department of the Ukrainian Armed Forces said Ukraine's army said they couldn't confirm Russia's withdrawal from the city.

The Interfax-Ukraine news agency quoted Oleksiy Hromov as having said: "At this time, we can neither deny nor confirm reports about the so-called withdrawal of Russian troops from Kherson.

"We continue the offensive operation according to our plan."

He added that Russia hadn't requested a green corridor for its pullout.

Image source, Reuters

Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg says Russia leaving Kherson would be "another victory" for Ukraine as the war continues into its ninth month.

After a meeting with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, he told reporters the withdrawal could mean Russia is "coming under heavy pressure".

He went on to add that Nato would support Ukraine "for as long as it takes".

Paul Adams
BBC international affairs correspondent

When the Russians drove into Kherson in March, virtually unopposed, they cannot have imagined they would be getting ready to leave a mere eight months later.

"Freedom is in the air," one Ukrainian messaged me on 23 October, asking to be identified only as James.

But there was a mounting sense of dread too. If Russian forces were compelled to withdraw, what would they do as they left?

"We've been through all rounds of fear already," James told me. "So let the tsunami come."

By the end of October, with Russian-appointed officials starting to evacuate civilians, the city's liberation seemed to be getting closer.

"People started speaking Ukrainian," James told me. "They were afraid to speak to each other before."

One of the most symbolic - and perhaps telling - moments came when a Russian team arrived at the city's 18th Century Cathedral of St Catherine to remove the bones of Prince Grigory Potemkin, the man responsible for colonising southern Ukraine on behalf of his lover, Catherine the Great.

Down on the river bank, boats were requisitioned and, in some cases destroyed. Videos circulating on social media even purported to show animals from Kherson's zoo being removed to Crimea.

On the left bank of the Dnipro, satellite imagery showed lines of recently dug Russian defences stretching for 100 miles along the Dnipro, from above the dam at Nova Kakhovka all the way to the Black Sea.

But amid talk of a Russian trap, Ukrainian officials have remained cautious, a sentiment echoed in the city itself.

Image source, "James"

Will Vernon
BBC News, Moscow

The Russian Defence Ministry has announced that Russian forces are being moved out of the Kherson Region to the other side of the Dnipro river.

In his daily briefing to journalists, defence ministry spokesperson Lt-General Igor Konashenkov mentioned briefly that the withdrawal was taking place - but did not use the word 'withdrawal', opting instead for "manoeuvre".

“Russian units are carrying out a manoeuvre to pre-prepared positions on the left bank of the Dnipro river in strict accordance with the approved plan,” in the Mykolaiv-Krivyi Rih direction, he said, referring to the area around Kherson.

No further details were given and no pictures of troops ‘manoeuvring’ accompanied the announcement.

Image source, Reuters

While Russia was announcing plans to retreat from Kherson, the Ukrainian Army claimed civilians in the city had started refusing to leave.

Tens of thousands have already been moved out of Kherson, in what Ukrainian officials have described as forced deportations - but with Russian forces supposedly preparing to leave, there seems to have been a shift.

A few weeks before the withdrawal announcement yesterday, Moscow-appointed officials in Kherson were urging locals to leave because of the worsening situation. They called it an orderly evacuation.

But today, that operation was brought to a halt, with officials saying the local authorities had run out of people willing to go.

Those who remain will stop receiving wages and benefits - and if these claims are true, it indicates a hasty retreat by Russia.