Ukraine’s armed forces were reported to have reached the center of the city of Kherson, as Russia’s retreat from the key strategic city appeared to have descended into chaotic scenes. Amid reports of wounded Russian soldiers being abandoned or captured, Ukrainian shelling of troop crossings across the Dnipro River, a Russian soldier said some units were ordered to escape any way they could. Photos released on social media by Kherson on Friday morning are said to show Ukrainian infantry welcoming residents in the city’s Korabelnyi district with the city’s Garrison pub visible in the background. A member of the Kherson regional council told Reuters that almost the entire city was under the control of the Ukrainian armed forces. Residents have been advised to stay indoors as searches continue for Russian troops still in the city and that some drowned in the Dnipro River while trying to escape. Updated at 12.14 GMT Important events Show only key events Please enable JavaScript to use this feature

Summary of the day so far

It’s only getting close to 6pm. in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, and here’s a summary of today’s developments on a day when Ukrainian troops entered the city center of Kherson for the first time since it was captured by Russia on March 2.

Jubilant crowds have been seen welcoming soldiers in the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson after continued progress made by the armed forces in recent days. Ukrainian forces liberated 41 settlements as they advanced south, President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a speech on Thursday afternoon. A Ukrainian flag was raised on Svobody Square, near the headquarters of the regional administration. Another now flew outside the city’s national police headquarters. A spokesman for the Ukrainian Defense Ministry told the BBC that Ukrainian forces are almost in full control of Kherson. More than 30,000 Russian troops have withdrawn to the eastern bank of the Dnipro River. The defense ministry said the evacuation had been completed by 5 a.m. Moscow time on Friday. The ministry said there were no military equipment or soldiers left on the west side of the river. Vladimir Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, denied that the Russian withdrawal from Kherson was a humiliation for the Kremlin when he spoke to reporters on Friday morning. Peskov said there was no regret over Russia’s annexation of the city in southern Ukraine in a lavish ceremony in late September. However, reports have emerged of some Russian troops staying behind in Ukraine and changing into civilian clothes. The intelligence unit of the Ministry of Defense urged the Russian soldiers to surrender. The Antonivskiy Bridge, the only nearby road crossing from the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson to the Russian-controlled east bank of the Dnipro River, was blown up. Seven people were killed in a Russian missile attack on a five-story apartment building in Mykolaiv early Friday morning. Emergency crews are working to find survivors. Russian attacks on power facilities have a disproportionate impact on civilians in Ukraine, with indiscriminate effects on critical functions such as healthcare and heating, according to the latest assessment by the UK Ministry of Defence. Forty-five Ukrainian soldiers have been freed in a prisoner swap with Russia, and the bodies of two slain Ukrainian soldiers have also been repatriated, the head of Ukraine’s presidential office said. The head of the Russian mercenary group Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, said his organization had begun training civilians in Russian regions bordering Ukraine to form a militia and build fortifications. The United Nations is in talks with Russian officials about a deal to export grain from Ukraine through the Black Sea.

Luke Harding This comes from my colleague, The Guardian’s foreign correspondent Luke Harding who is based in Mylove, Kherson province. Amid rejoicing over the liberation of Kherson, the war with the Russian forces was not abandoned. The Ukrainian army pounded the retreating soldiers as they tried to cross to the left bank of the Dnipro River. An armored column of forty Ukrainian vehicles, including several T-72 tanks, passed through the village of Mylove in Kherson province, which was liberated on Thursday. It headed in the direction of the Kakhovka hydroelectric station – a key crossing point – and the still occupied right bank of the town of Nova Kakhovka. From Mylove, the Russians were only eight kilometers away. They were checking terrain that was visible just across the river: radio masts and houses under a row of trees. Black smoke billowed on the horizon. There were explosions every few minutes and a sequence of rapid impacts from outgoing Ukrainian grad missiles. The Russians fired, though less frequently, from artillery positions over the water. “You get used to it,” said villager Serhiy Demcuk, after another concussive blast. “No you don’t,” his wife Alesia disagreed. “It’s terrible,” he said. The Ukrainian advance has been slowed by the fact that the fleeing Russians have blown up bridges and other strategic objects. Ukrainian vehicles were forced to take a long detour through sunflower fields and farmland after the crossing over a tributary was destroyed. There has been no time to install floating bridges. A major clean-up operation was underway on Friday, with Ukrainian military police going door-to-door and checking documents. They hunted down local collaborators and Russians who stayed behind and may have been disguised as civilians. The Kremlin’s failed retreat from Kherson was a major military disaster. However, the new front line positions are extremely close, with the two sides able to target each other using multiple launch missile systems and even tank bombs. The Ukrainian general staff will be eager to hit Russian military bases as soon as possible, to prevent the city of Kherson from being pulverized and turned into another Mariupol. Kyiv also faces another strategic dilemma: should it try to cross the Dnipro River and continue or open a new front south of Zaporizhzhia and towards the Russian-controlled city of Melitopol? The British government has ordered some documents from an inquest into the death of a woman killed by the Novichok nerve agent after the 2018 assassination attempt on former Russian spy Sergei Skripal to be kept secret, an inquest heard on Friday. Dawn Sturgess died of Novichok exposure in July 2018 after her partner found a fake perfume bottle that British police believe had been used by Russian intelligence to smuggle the poison into the country. Skripal, who sold Russian secrets to Britain, and his daughter Yulia were found unconscious on a public bench in the southern English city of Salisbury four months earlier. They and a police officer who went to Skripal’s home were left seriously ill in hospital from exposure to the military-grade nerve agent, but later recovered. While British police have charged in absentia three Russians, who they say are GRU military intelligence officers, with the attack on Skripal and his daughter, no formal charges have been brought against them over the death of Sturgess, 44. An inquest into her death was replaced by a public inquiry to allow her to examine highly confidential information from the police and security services. A photo from 2018 shows staff in hazmat suits working to secure a tent covering a counter at the Maltings shopping center in Salisbury, where former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia were found critically ill after exposure to the nerve agent Novichok. Photo: Andrew Matthews/PA Updated at 15.04 GMT Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has sent a greeting to Poland on the country’s Independence Day, expressing gratitude in a video message for Polish help since Russia invaded Ukraine in February. “Ukrainians will remember how you welcomed us, how you helped us. Your country is our sister,” Zelensky said. Poles have rallied to the cause of Ukraine and Poland has welcomed a large number of refugees. But there are also lingering tensions over a Polish-Ukrainian ethnic conflict in which 100,000 Poles were killed by Ukrainians during the second world war. Some Polish far-right groups are trying to keep these tensions alive. A large poster at an annual Independence Day march organized by Polish nationalist groups read “Stop the Ukrainization of Poland.” Updated at 14:57 GMT More footage of cheering crowds greeting Ukrainian forces in central Kherson continues to hit social media. Here’s a quote just posted by Pjotr ​​Sauer, a Guardian reporter covering Russia and Ukraine: Forty-five Ukrainian soldiers have been freed in a prisoner swap with Russia, and the bodies of two slain Ukrainian soldiers have also been repatriated, the head of Ukraine’s presidential office said. The official, Andriy Yermak, did not provide details on the Russians released as part of the swap, Reuters reported. But he posted a video of a group of soldiers sitting in the back of a vehicle being told “Welcome to Ukraine” and then cheering “Glory to Ukraine!”. Yermak also tweeted other video footage and photos, including this one Another prisoner exchange. We managed to free 45 AFU soldiers and return to Ukraine the bodies of two fallen defenders. Thanks to the Coordinating Staff for the Treatment of Prisoners of War. We’re moving on. Our people will return to their homes. pic.twitter.com/CDAnahRqwo — Andriy Yermak (@AndriyYermak) November 11, 2022 The prisoner exchange was the latest in a series since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24. A spokesman for the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense told the BBC that…