Ukraine war: Kyiv ‘liberates’ more villages in Kherson as Russia’s annexation map shrinks; US believes Ukraine involved in killing daughter of Putin’s ally

Ukraine says its army has recaptured more settlements in Kherson, one of the four Russian-occupied regions annexed by the Kremlin.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the villages of Novovoskresenske, Novohryhorivka, and Petropavlivka to the northeast of Kherson city had been “liberated”.

It came after Russian president Vladimir Putin signed constitutional decrees on Wednesday to formally annex the four Ukrainian regions of Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia.

Thousands of Russian troops have retreated from front lines in the south and east since September following Ukraine’s military counter-offensive.

In his nightly address, Zelenskyy spoke briefly in Russian to address pro-Kremlin forces, telling them they had already lost the war.

“Ukrainians know what they are fighting for. And more and more citizens of Russia are realizing that they must die simply because one person does not want to end the war,” he said in a reference to Putin.

Moscow’s map of Ukraine appears to show shrinking areas it controls.

A map of “new regions” published by the state news agency RIA included the full territory of the Ukrainian provinces but some parts were labeled as being under Ukrainian military control.

Overnight, seven Russian missiles hit the city of Zaporizhzhia, damaging several buildings and causing injuries, regional governor Oleksandr Starukh said.

Russia’s president said troops will “stabilise” the situation in the four annexed Ukrainian regions.

“We proceed from the fact that the situation will be stabilised, we will be able to calmly develop these territories,” Putin said.

Putin signed a decree on Wednesday to annex the regions. The new law would incorporate about 18% of Ukraine’s territory into Russia.

Russia’s move to annex the regions raises the possibility of an escalation in the war, as Putin and other officials have said they could use nuclear weapons to protect Russian territory including the annexed provinces.

Ukraine has said it will not be cowed by any nuclear threats.

At the United Nations, Russia is lobbying for a secret ballot instead of a public vote next week when the 193-member U.N. General Assembly considers whether to condemn its annexation of the regions.

Putin celebrated the annexations last week only hours before Ukrainian forces recaptured Lyman, Russia’s main bastion in the northern part of Donetsk.

A major US newspaper has reported that US officials believe parts of Ukraine’s government were involved in killing the daughter of a Russian political theorist known as “Putin’s brain.”

Journalist Darya Dugina was killed in August in a car bombing near Moscow. Her father, Alexander Dugin, is said to have influenced on Russian President Vladimir Putin’s foreign policy.

The New York Times on Wednesday quoted US officials as saying US intelligence agencies believe “parts of the Ukrainian government authorized the car bomb attack.”

The officials reportedly said the United States was “not aware of the operation ahead of time” and did not provide any assistance. They also said the US later “admonished Ukrainian officials over the assassination.”

The newspaper also cited some American officials as saying her father was likely the target of the assassination plan.

The newspaper reported that countries traditionally do not discuss other nations’ covert actions, but that some American officials believe it is crucial to curb what they see as “dangerous adventurism.”

Russia blamed Ukrainian intelligence for the killing.

Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak denied that his country was involved.