Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 261

Here is the situation as it stands on Friday, November 11.

Fighting

• Ukrainian troops have reclaimed dozens of landmine-littered settlements abandoned by Russian forces in southern Ukraine, the day after Moscow announced its withdrawal from the strategic city of Kherson.
• Ukrainian forces liberated 41 settlements as they advance through the south, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, adding an unspecified number of pro-Kyiv troops had been killed.
• Ukraine’s army chief Valerii Zaluzhny said Kyiv could not yet confirm whether Russia was indeed pulling out of Kherson, but Ukrainian troops advanced 7km (4 miles) over the past 24 hours.
• Ukraine’s Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov said Russia has not started real movement from Kherson city and would take at least a week to withdraw.
• An adviser to Zelenskyy said Russia wants to turn Kherson into a “city of death” after retreating, and accused Moscow of mining everything from apartments to sewers and planning to shell it from the other side of the Dnieper river.

Diplomacy

• NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said Russia is under heavy pressure in Ukraine and he is waiting to see how Russia’s withdrawal from Kherson proceeds. But if confirmed, it would be “another victory for Ukraine”.
• The United States National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said Washington was not pressuring Ukraine to engage in diplomacy with Russia over the war.
• Russian President Vladimir Putin will not personally attend the G20 summit in Bali next week but may appear via a video link.
• The US has put forward “a series of proposals” to Russia for the release of US basketball star Brittney Griner and former US Marine Paul Whelan, but Moscow has not shown a willingness to engage in productive talks, Sullivan said.

Economy

• The British government says it has frozen assets worth 18 billion pounds ($20.5bn) held by Russian oligarchs, other individuals, and entities sanctioned for Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
• The White House announced a new military aid package for Ukraine that will include “important air defence contributions”.