Footages with Ukrainian soldiers

On 29 August, Zelenskyy advisedly vowed the start of a full-scale counteroffensive in the southeast. He first announced a counteroffensive to retake Russian-occupied territory in the south concentrating on the Kherson-Mykolaiv region, a claim that was corroborated by the Ukrainian parliament as well as Operational Command South.At the start of the operation, the Ukrainian operational group "Kakhovka" and some Ukrainian officials claimed that their forces had broken through defensive lines manned by the 109th DPR Regiment and Russian paratroopers.

The 109th DPR Regiment, which was a conscript unit that was known to serve on garrison duty in the Kherson area, was reported to have withdrawn from it. Ukrainian officials also claimed that they had hit and destroyed a large Russian base in the area amid a general increase of Ukrainian air and artillery bombardments of Russian positions. On 1 September, the Ukrainian army claimed to have captured Stanislav and Snihurivka, confirmed by local sources. On 4 September, Zelenskyy announced the liberation of two unnamed villages in Kherson Oblast and one in Donetsk Oblast. Ukrainian authorities released a photo showing the raising of the Ukrainian flag in Vysokopillia by Ukrainian forces.

On 6 September, Ukraine started a second offensive in the Kharkiv area, where it achieved a rapid breakthrough. Meanwhile, Ukrainian attacks also continued along the southern frontline, though reports about territorial changes were largely unverifiable. On 12 September, Zelenskyy said that Ukrainian forces had retaken a total of 6,000 square kilometres (2,300 sq mi) from Russia, in both the south and the east. The BBC stated that it could not verify these claims. By 13 September, that Russian forces had withdrawn from Kyselivka, a settlement 15 km from Kherson.[clarification needed. On the same day, the Russia-backed deputy head of the Kherson Region posted a video from the outskirts of the settlement in which he claimed that Ukrainian troops have not been able to enter it.The mayor of Melitopol reported that Russian forces were abandoning the city and were moving to Russian-held Crimea.[322] Ukraine also claimed to have retaken Oleksandrivka on 13 September.[323] A local official claimed that Ukraine had retaken Kyselivka, but this had not been confirmed by the Ukrainian military or outside sources such as the ISW as of 14 September.
In October, Ukrainian forces pushed further south towards the city of Kherson, taking control of 1,170 square kilometres (450 sq mi) of territory, with fighting extending to Dudchany.
On 9 November, Russian defence minister Sergei Shoigu ordered Russian forces to leave part of Kherson Oblast, including the city of Kherson, and move to the eastern bank of the Dnieper.On 11 November, Ukrainian troops entered Kherson, as Russia stated its withdrawal had been completed. This meant that Russian forces no longer had a foothold west of the Dnieper River (its right bank).