Russia's war on Ukraine latest news: Moscow orders Kherson retreat

Moscow ordered troops to withdraw from near the strategic southern Ukrainian city of Kherson in one of its biggest setbacks of the war so far, although Ukraine said it was still doubtful that the Russian troops would leave without a fight.

Moscow ordered troops to withdraw from near the strategic southern Ukrainian city of Kherson in one of its biggest setbacks of the war so far, although Ukraine said it was still doubtful that the Russian troops would leave without a fight. CONFLICT

* An adviser to Ukraine's president said Russia wanted to turn Kherson into a "city of death", and accused Moscow of mining everything from apartments to sewers and planning to shell the southern Ukrainian city from the other side of the River Dnipro. * Ukrainian troops said they had recaptured the town of Snihurivka in southern Mykolaiv region from Russian forces, speaking in video broadcast by Ukrainian national television. Reuters could not verify the statement.

* Russian General Sergei Surovikin, in overall command of the war, said it was no longer possible to keep Kherson city supplied and the retreat would strengthen defences elsewhere. * The main bridge on a road out of Kherson was blown up. Reuters was able to verify the location of online images that showed the span of the Darivka bridge collapsed into the water of a tributary of the Dnipro River.

DIPLOMACY * Russian President Vladimir Putin will not attend a gathering of leaders from the Group of 20 (G20) nations on the resort island of Bali next week, Indonesian and Russian officials said.

* The British government said it had frozen assets together worth 18 billion pounds ($20.5 billion) held by Russian oligarchs, other individuals and entities sanctioned for Moscow's invasion of Ukraine. * U.S. President Joe Biden said he expects U.S. aid to Ukraine to continue without interruption despite scepticism expressed by Republicans who appear poised to take control of the U.S. House of Representatives.

* Top U.N. officials will meet a senior Russian delegation in Geneva on Friday to discuss extending a Ukraine Black Sea grain export deal and efforts to smooth shipments of Russian food and fertilizers to global markets, the United Nations said. ECONOMY

Ukraine's Economy Minister Yulia Syvrydenko said Russia's destruction of civilian infrastructure would widen the expected contraction of gross domestic production to 39% from an earlier forecast of a 35% drop. QUOTES

"For the moment, we don't know (the Russians') intentions - will they engage in fighting with us and will they try to hold the city of Kherson? They are moving very slowly," said Oleksiy Arestovych, adviser to Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.