No stopping after Kherson

After capturing Kherson from Russian forces and assurances of unwavering support from the United States, Ukraine is well-positioned to continue advancing in the war rather than accept frozen front lines during the winter, some military analysts say.

The strategic and symbolic victory comes as fierce fighting continues in the north along a 1000-kilometer front line, a reminder that even as the mighty Dnieper River now tears apart enemies around Kherson, other objectives are still at stake.

"Ukraine has the initiative and momentum and is dictating to the Russians where and when the next fight will take place," Philip Ingram, a former British military intelligence official, told Reuters.

That may involve a shift in focus and an offensive closer to Bakhmut in the industrial eastern Donbass region, where Russia has been trying to make a breakthrough for months.

"Winter will slow down the activities, but it will not stop them - the Ukrainians will be well prepared to continue the fight during the winter, the Russians will be less prepared for the winter, he said.

Mile after mile of abandoned trenches along the road to the southern port city of Kherson testify to the poor living conditions some Russians had to endure on the right bank of the Kherson before the retreat.

Reuters reporters noted that the trenches are narrow, muddy and often exposed to outside influences, unlike the wood-lined trenches of the Ukrainians, some of which are equipped with Internet and televisions.

"Whatever the Ukrainians do, it will be well planned, kept secret and probably well implemented," Ingram told the British agency.

Retired US General Ben Hodges said there would be no need for the Ukrainians to rush across the Dnieper as they secure Kherson on the west coast and withdraw artillery to counter Russian forces defending the approach to annexed Crimea.

When there is an opportunity for negotiations, when peace can be achieved... that opportunity should be taken," said US Armed Forces Chief of Staff Mark Miley.

Meanwhile, some residents in Kherson are worried about the risk of Russian missile attacks on the city.

According to Hodzhis, Russian forces concentrated in the south may be exposed to attacks by another Ukrainian wing, from the direction of Kharkiv towards the destroyed Mariupol on the Sea of ​​Azov.

"They (the Russians) will have trenches, but it is an open field in the south and the Russians who are there are easy targets," he said.

"Fire support from Kherson becomes a stronghold to support further maneuvers on the left side as they advance towards Mariupol, Berdjansk and Melitopol".

Ukrainian forces broke into the center of Kherson last Friday, after forcing the Russians to withdraw from the only regional capital they had captured and declared part of Russia.

White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters on Friday that the United States will continue to support the Ukrainian military "so that Ukraine is in the best possible position on the battlefield" and will not tell them what to do.

"The whole narrative that is present in the Western media in the sense of "when Ukraine will negotiate" ignores the essence, which is that Russia continues to baselessly claim the annexed territories," he said.

Sullivan was commenting on recent media reports citing officials suggesting that Moscow's recent losses on the battlefield provide Ukraine with an opportunity to consider negotiations with Russia from a superior position.

When asked about the possibility of diplomacy at an event last Sunday, US Army Chief of Staff Mark Miley pointed out that the initial refusal to negotiate in World War I led to additional suffering and millions of casualties.

"Therefore, when there is an opportunity for negotiations, when peace can be achieved... that opportunity should be used," Miley said last Wednesday before the Economic Club of New York.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told world leaders yesterday at the summit of the Group of 20 developed countries that there will be no let-up in the Ukrainian military campaign to expel Russian forces from his country.

"We will not wait, we will not allow them to accumulate forces and then start a new series of terror and global destabilization," Zelenski said via video link.

"I am convinced that now is the moment when the devastating Russian war must and can be stopped," said Zelensky, who said on Monday that Ukraine is ready for peace, but only under its conditions, which include the return of the entire occupied territory.

On Monday, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that it is up to Ukraine to decide what conditions it will accept to end the war.

"It is up to Ukraine to decide what conditions are acceptable. It is up to us to support them," he said at a joint press conference with Dutch government officials in The Hague.

"We should not make the mistake of underestimating Russia... They still control large parts of Ukraine... We should strengthen Ukraine's position," added Stoltenberg.

Russia attacked cities and energy facilities across Ukraine yesterday, killing at least one person and disrupting power supplies in what Kiev called the worst wave of missile attacks in the war so far.

Rockets fell on cities, including the capital Kyiv, Lviv and Rivne in the west, Kharkiv in the northeast, Krivi Rih and Poltava in the central part of the country, Odesa and Mykolaiv in the south and Zhytomyr in the north.

In an address via the Internet, Zelensky warned Ukrainians that new missile attacks are possible, but added: "We are working, we will recover everything, we will survive."