Kherson is a Ukrainian port city located on both the Black Sea and the Dnieper River. With a pre-war population of just over 280,000, the city was an economic center and home to an important ship-building industry.
Russian forces took over Kherson in March, during the initial days of the invasion, causing roughly half the city’s population to flee. Capturing the city gave Russia control over major sources of freshwater supplies to Crimea. Last month, Russia claimed to have annexed the Kherson region, along with three others, in illegal referendums not recognized by the international community.
Kherson has been a major target of the fall Ukrainian counteroffensive. Retaking large parts of the Kherson region would deprive Moscow of a land corridor to Crimea, would help Kyiv regain control over parts of the Black Sea coastline important to food exports, and would be of major symbolic value eight months after it fell into Russian hands.