Kharkiv’s mayor tells the BBC that people are now gradually coming back to the key Ukrainian city.
Highlights
- Dergachi’s Palace of Culture is one of the last buildings in Ukraine’s second city to be hit by artillery.
- It is not a turning point in the war for Ukraine, but it is still a major victory, says the mayor of Kharkiv.
- Russian tanks and armoured fighting vehicles have been eliminated by Ukrainian fighters.
- The city’s mayor tells the BBC people are starting to return - and that the battle has been won.
- The Russian forces will hold lines further back, or re-join the fight elsewhere, the mayor says.
- The damage has been caused by a heavy barrage of rocket artillery on the outskirts of the city of Dergach.