Kherson (Херсо́н) is a city of 280,000 people in the south of Ukraine, and the administrative center of Kherson Oblast. It's a port with access to both the Black Sea and the Dnipro River (including a bridge crossing).

On March 2, 2022, the city fell under Russian control in the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, 6 days after the war began. As of May 4, 2022, Kherson is the only capital city of one of Ukraine's provinces to have fallen since the invasion began on February 24, 2022.

Russia has made moves for a long-term occupation, including changing the currency to ruble, and preparing to hold a referendum to create a splinter republic in the model of the DPR and LPR.

Since taking Kherson, Russian forces have failed to push West towards Odessa, nor have they managed to take the city of Mykolaiv to the Northwest of Kherson. Russian forces did make progress on the right (western) bank of the Dnipro, capturing the entirety of Kherson Oblast.

As the Russian offensive in the war shifts focus towards the Donbas front, it appears that Ukrainian forces are progressing at pushing back Russian troops elsewhere, including the front near Kherson, putting a possible liberation of the city in the cards.