US and Chinese presidents agree nuclear war ‘should never be fought’, White House says; Zelenskiy accuses Russia of more than 400 war crimes. This live blog is now closed

• At a glance: what we know on day 264 of the invasion

Hanna Arhirova is in Kherson for Agence France-Presse, and she has spoken to 73-year-old Yevhen Teliezhenko. He and his wife have been driving around the city, flying their Ukrainian flag and asking the soldiers who liberated them to autograph it.

“They were fighting for us. We knew we were not alone,” he said. “Finally freedom!” said 61-year-old Tetiana Hitina, Teliezhenko’s wife. “The city was dead.”

This is Martin Belam taking over the live blog in London. I will be with you for the next few hours.

People take stock after Ukrainian soldiers liberate city from forces that aimed to make them ‘suffer as much as possible’

• Russia-Ukraine war: latest updates

After two nights of jubilation following the liberation of their city, the people of Kherson on Sunday began to assess the extent of the damage wreaked by eight long months of Russian occupation, with residents still without electricity and water.

On Sunday, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy accused Russian soldiers of war crimes and killing civilians in Kherson. “Investigators have already documented more than 400 Russian war crimes. Bodies of dead civilians and servicemen have been found. The Russian army left behind the same savagery it did in other regions of the country it entered,” he said.

Ukraine’s step towards victory presents challenges, but demonstrates what can be done with a steady supply of western support

The Russian decision to withdraw from the Ukrainian city of Kherson to defensive positions on the left bank of the Dnipro River was driven by sound military logic. Russian control of the city could only be maintained at a steep price in troops and materiel. Operationally, the withdrawal should help the Russians stabilise their defensive positions over the winter. Strategically, the withdrawal is an unambiguous Russian defeat.

When Ukraine launched its counteroffensive against Kherson at the end of August its military knew it lacked the combat power to storm the city. However, strikes on the bridges over the Dnipro limited Russia’s ability to supply its troops with heavy equipment, while the river protected Ukrainian forces from counterattack. This favourable battlefield geometry allowed Ukraine to create a killing area in which its artillery could inflict heavy casualties on Russia’s most motivated and competent units.