Isabel van Brugen is a Newsweek Reporter based in Kuala Lumpur Her focus is reporting on the Russia-Ukraine war Isabel joined Newsweek in 2021 and had previously worked with news outlets including the Daily Express You can get in touch with Isabel by emailing i.vanbrugen@newsweek.com or by following her on X @isabelvanbrugen either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content Russian troops are reportedly abandoning checkpoints in the occupied Ukrainian region of Kherson as images circulating on social media appeared to show that a Russian flag had been pulled down from the city council building the deputy head of Kherson's regional council posted a photo on his Telegram channel that he says was taken on Thursday "Kherson Oblast State Administration. The photo was taken today. The mysterious disappearance of you know what ... Kherson was you [Russian forces] will take off your rags [Russian flags]," he wrote A Russian Telegram channel said on Thursday that a Russian flag has been removed from the administration building in Kherson, while Russian war correspondent Alexander Kots also confirmed the flag's absence Alexander Kots posted a video showing that the flag is no longer flying on the administration building but it is on a building across the street. 3/https://t.co/m4pzdijavV pic.twitter.com/qqxkc2d7oL the military correspondent for Russian outlet Komsomolskaya Pravda posted a video on his Telegram channel showing that the flag is no longer flying on the Kherson administration building a Kyiv-based independent foreign policy and security analyst said "something very interesting" is happening in the city of Kherson "Russian flags at checkpoints and over the city administration building have disappeared," he tweeted "Checkpoints that were once manned by Russian troops are now abandoned." Ukrainian civilians in Kherson riding on a bus film a checkpoint previously occupied by Russian troops and cheer when they realise it's now been abandoned. pic.twitter.com/AJCjj51doP Rushton shared a clip he said showed Ukrainian civilians in Kherson riding on a bus filming a checkpoint previously occupied by Russian troops "[They] cheer when they realise it's now been abandoned," he wrote In late October, the Kremlin-installed administration of Kherson was evacuated to the east bank of the Dnieper river as Ukrainian forces advanced as part of a counteroffensive to recapture the region which became of the the first areas to be seized by Russian troops in the war Some 70,000 people have already been evacuated said on Tuesday that he decided to extend the evacuation zone by 15 kilometers (9.3 miles) from the Dnieper deputy head of the Russian-appointed military-civilian regional administration was cited by the Russian state-owned news outlet Kommersant on Thursday as saying that Russian troops are likely to leave Kherson and go to the east bank our troops will go to the left-bank part of the Kherson region Those people who did not have time to move from Kherson should leave as quickly as possible," he said on Solovyov Live Russian officials have yet to comment on the disappearance of the Russian flag from the city council building Newsweek has contacted Russia's foreign ministry for comment Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground Newsletters in your inbox See all The Kakhovka reservoir remains a very difficult terrain to traverse even after russians blew up the hydroelectric power plant it is still very difficult to conduct military operations here Public Sentinel images by the European Space Agency show that an option of the drained Kakhovka reservoir facilitating river crossing operations is improbable the former Kakhovka reservoir looked like this: Images show that Dnieper has already returned to its historical channel and the entire area resembles what is depicted on historical maps a large area of this territory is under water again soil will be very soft when the water comes back We can also have a look at more detailed images the biggest changes are noticeable to the east of Enerhodar: Opposite the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant where the width of the Dnieper has become much wider at the right bank: in the area of Novovorontsovka and Osokorivka where the width of the water surface has actually returned to the level before the Kakhovka HPP was blown up: The photos below show the area around villages of Dudchany as well as Velyka Lepetykha: There are also smaller changes at the south of Zaporizhzhia despite the fact that the Kakhovka reservoir has been drained this area is the least suitable for any advance The reason is a combination of the Dnieper riverbed The conditions that have formed on the site of former Kakhovka reservoir are the natural state of Velykyi Luh Velykyi Luh is the historical name of the area where the giant river floodplains that once existed on the left bank of the Dnieper river the water level in this area is minimal as sell as in the beginning of spring and until mid-summer the area turns into an almost continuous water space Earlier Defense Express reported that Ukrainian naval drones had denied russian supply chain from Mediterranean to Black sea 00:10 Ukrainian defenders in Kherson oblast struck at an advanced command post of the Russian army, where there were about 50 senior officers and possibly an army commander. This was announced on air by the adviser to the head of the Presidentʼs Office Oleksiy Arestovych. 23:40 The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has stated that evidence of Russian war crimes in Ukraine is growing a spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights “These include indiscriminate shelling and bombing of populated areas […] 92.3 per cent of what we have managed to record were recorded in Government-controlled territories so attributable to the Russian armed forces,” she said Shamdasani noted that the UN recorded at least 2,343 cases of civilian deaths we’re very worried about what’s coming next,” she added almost every resident in Bucha that her colleagues spoke to “We know much more needs to be done to uncover what happened there and we also know Bucha is not an isolated incident,” Shamdasani said Underscoring that the true death toll is almost certainly much higher than what has been confirmed to date She also added that “the scale of summary executions of civilians in areas previously occupied by Russian forces” was also emerging Find more details on the theme in a publication by Defense Express 23:20 Volodymyr Zelenskyy addressed the people on the results of the 58th day of the war 22:55 Today, Russian troops fired 56 artillery, MLRS, and mortars at civilian infrastructure in Kharkiv and the region. Two people died, the Kharkiv Oblast Military Administration reported Residential areas in Kharkiv were affected 6 people were injured and one died.The shelling also continued in the Chuhuiv district and in the Barvinkove district in the Izium region Find more details on the theme in a publication by Defense Express 22:30 During the current day, April 22, the Ukrainian military successfully repulsed 8 Russian attacks in the Donetsk and Luhansk directions Air defense units shot down 4 Orlan-10 drones in the skies of the Ukrainian Donbas Russian troops continue to shell the settlements of Dnipropetrovsk oblast on the border with Kherson oblast. Velyka Kostromka, Mala Shesternya, and a number of other settlements were shelled today, no one was killed, stated the head of Kryvyi Rih Military Administration 21:40 The operational group "East" reports: during the day on April 22 The Ukrainian military destroyed 130 Russian servicemen and the following equipment: Find more details on the theme in a publication by Defense Express another mass grave of dead residents was discovered Petro Andriushchenko, an adviser to the mayor of Mariupol, reported this on Telegram “We have received new information about the mass grave of dead Mariupol residents in an attempt to hide the consequences of war crimes This time in the Livoberezhnyi district near the cemetery of Vynohradne village This once again confirms that the occupiers conduct accumulation /burial / cremation of the dead Mariupol residents in every district of the city,” Andriushchenko wrote He published a satellite image and added that the approximate place of the mass grave was marked on the map Russian invaders have built several mass graves near a bypass road in Mariupol and are throwing bodies packed into plastic bags there Another satellite image made earlier showed the sector of mass burials in Manhush outside Mariupol Between 3,000 and 9,000 civilians killed by Russians may be buried there Russian troops have caused a major humanitarian catastrophe in Mariupol The invaders are bombing unarmed residents and blocking humanitarian aid According to Mariupol Mayor Vadym Boychenko more than 20,000 civilians have died in the city since the Russian invasion 20:25 The heads of the Hornostaivka municipal territorial community and Velyka Lepetykha municipal territorial community on Facebook: On 22 April Russian troops entered another 2 municipal territorial communities (hromadas) in Kherson Region: the Velyka Lepetykha and Hornostaivka communities "Russian troops entered the territory [of the community] and urged the local residents to carry their documents with them at all times. [Russian] troops might be inspecting the households [in the community]. We call on you not to panic. Show them your documents if they ask for them and don’t be afraid to leave your house," the post on the Velyka Lepetykha Facebook page reads Dmytro Liakhno the head of the Hornostaivka municipal territorial community also informed the residents of his municipal community that Russian military representatives have entered the village and announced the creation of a "commandant’s office." I’d like to remind you that if you get stopped by their patrol officers do not provoke them in order to ensure your own safety 20:14 The next few weeks could be decisive for the war in Ukraine The official told reporters that Russia was likely to increase its military attacks in eastern Ukraine and along the country's coast "This is not a fairy tale with an imminent happy ending," they said "I think we are likely to see a very significant increase in the intensity of Russian military attacks in the east I think we are likely to see an intensification of Russian military attacks along the coast "I think we will see the next couple of weeks as being decisive." 19:56 Three more houses were damaged in Popasna and Rubizhne due to Russian shelling, said Luhansk Oblast State Administration head Serhiy Haidai Rubizhne has been under fire since the morning — even the evacuation bus could not reach the city The bus returned from Popasna with injuries because it was hit by Russian fire Find more details on the theme in a publication by Defense Express 19:17 Key points of report of the Spokesman for the Ministry of Defense Oleksandr Motuzianyk on April 22: Find more details on the theme in a publication by Defense Express