Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky made a triumphant go to to the newly liberated metropolis of Kherson on Monday, hailing the Russian withdrawal as “the beginning of the end of the war” but additionally acknowledging that Ukrainian troops are paying a heavy worth for pushing again. Paying off in your laborious effort. attacking drive.
The recapture of Kherson was certainly one of Ukraine’s best successes within the practically 9 months because the invasion. This dealt one other stinging blow to the Kremlin and will turn into a springboard for additional advances into the occupied territory.
Zelensky walked the streets of town on Monday, hours after he warned in his nightly video handle about booby traps and mines left behind by the Russians earlier than their retreat. “This is the beginning of the end of the war,” he mentioned. “We are moving forward step by step in all the temporarily occupied areas.” Russia nonetheless controls about 70% of the broader Kherson area.
Zelensky has beforehand appeared unexpectedly in different front-line areas at vital junctures of the warfare and his newest go to was laden with each symbolism and the standard touches – clearly geared toward boosting the morale of each troopers and civilians alike. I
In a video printed by a presidential aide, an apparently impressed Zelensky stood together with his proper hand over his coronary heart and sang the nationwide anthem, as troopers saluted and stood at consideration and troopers carried the yellow-and-blue Ukrainian flag. drawn over a flag. Other footage confirmed Zelensky waving to residents who saluted him from an condo window and shouting: “Victory to Ukraine!” Answer – “Victory to the heroes!” – got here again from Zelensky’s group, made up of troopers and different folks.
The President additionally distributed medals to Ukrainian troopers within the central sq. and posed for selfies with them. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov declined to touch upon Zelensky’s go to to Kherson on Monday, saying that “you know this is the territory of the Russian Federation.” The Kremlin illegally annexed the Kherson area and three others earlier this 12 months.
After the Russian retreat, Ukrainian officers say they’re discovering proof of torture and different atrocities.
In his nightly video handle on Sunday, Zelensky mentioned with out giving particulars that “investigators have already documented more than 400 Russian war crimes, and bodies of both civilians and military personnel have been found.” “In the Kherson region, the Russian military perpetrated the same atrocities as in other regions of our country,” he mentioned. “We will discover each killer and produce them to justice. undoubtedly.”
Residents mentioned departing Russian troopers plundered town, taking away the loot as they withdrew final week. They additionally ruined main infrastructure earlier than retreating throughout the broad Dnieper River to its jap financial institution. A Ukrainian official described the scenario in Kherson as a “humanitarian catastrophe”. Yaroslav Yanushevich, the Kherson regional governor, mentioned that reconnecting the ability provide is a precedence, with gasoline provides already ensured. The Russian pullout marked a triumphant milestone in Ukraine’s pushback towards an invasion of Moscow practically 9 months earlier.
In the previous two months, the Ukrainian army has claimed to have recaptured dozens of cities and villages north of town of Kherson.
With inputs from TheIndianEXPRESS
