KHERSON, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy paid a triumphant visit to the newly liberated city of Kherson on Monday, hailing Russia’s withdrawal as the “beginning of the end of the war” but also acknowledging the great value Ukrainian foot soldiers are paying. their hard work to repel the invading force.
Kherson’s reconquest has been one of Ukraine’s biggest successes in the nearly nine months since Moscow’s invasion. It served as another blow to the Kremlin and may be just a springboard for further advances into occupied territory.
But giant portions of eastern and southern Ukraine are still under Russian control, and the city of Kherson itself remains within Moscow’s diversity of projectiles and missiles. Meanwhile, heavy fighting continued in the country, with Ukraine reporting several civilian casualties.
Zelenskyy walked the streets of Kherson on Monday, handing out medals and posing with them for selfies, and playing a note of defiance.
“This is the beginning of the end of the war,” he said. “We are arriving step by step in all the occupied territories. “
But he also said regrettably that the fighting so far “has taken away the heroes of our country. “
The end of Russia’s occupation of the city, the only provincial capital its forces have taken since the February invasion, sparked days of celebration. But as winter approaches, other people are living without heat, water or electricity, and lack food and medicine. Zelenskyy himself pointed out that the city is riddled with booby traps and mines. And the Ukrainian government says evidence of atrocities like in the spaces they liberated before is emerging.
A Washington-based think tank, the Institute for the Study of War, said Ukraine had won “a vital victory” by retaking the town of Kherson and other spaces west of the Dnieper, but “has in no way freed up the bare territory for its long-term security and economic survival.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, speaking at The Hague on Monday, warned that “we will not have to make the mistake of underestimating Russia. “
“The Russian armed forces retain significant capability, as well as a large number of soldiers, and Russia has demonstrated its willingness to suffer significant losses,” Stoltenberg said.
Zelenskyy has already made the impression in other frontline spaces at very important moments of the war and his most recent scale was loaded with symbolism and the not unusual touch, obviously intended to boost the morale of infantrymen and civilians.
In a video posted through a presidential aide, Zelenskyy, visibly moved, put his hand in the center and sang the national anthem, as troops waved and squared and a soldier hoisted the yellow and blue Ukrainian flag on a flagpole.
People with flags slung over their shoulders clapped, cried and shouted in gratitude to Zelenskyy.
“It’s incredible. We have been waiting for it for months, thank you,” said resident Danila Yuhrenko.
Another resident, Serhii Yukhmchuk, 47, said he and his wife used to spend the profession at home to interact with Russians. They and other members of his network protested silently by refusing to use the ruble, the Russian currency, he said.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Monday declined to comment on Zelensky to Kherson, saying only that “you know this is the territory of the Russian Federation. “Russia illegally annexed the Kherson region and 3 others earlier this year.
After the Russian withdrawal, the Ukrainian government says there is evidence of torture and other atrocities.
In his late-night video speech on Sunday, Zelenskyy said without giving main points that “investigators have already documented more than 400 Russian war crimes, and the bodies of civilians and military personnel have been recovered. “
“In the Kherson region, the Russian military left the same atrocities as in other parts of our country,” he said. “We will locate and bring each and every killer to justice. Without a doubt. “
Residents said Russian troops looted the city and took the loot when they withdrew last week. They also destroyed key infrastructure before retreating across the wide Dnieper River to its shore.
A Ukrainian official described what happened in Kherson as “a humanitarian catastrophe. “
Reconnecting electricity is the priority, said Kherson Regional Governor Yaroslav Yanushevich.
The Russian withdrawal marked a triumphant step toward pushing Ukraine back against Moscow’s forces. Over the past two months, the Ukrainian military has claimed to have retaken dozens of towns and villages north of the town of Kherson.
But the bitter war continued with bombing, civilian casualties and profits reported across the sides.
The Russian Defense Ministry said Monday that its forces had absolutely captured the village of Pavlivka in the eastern Donetsk region. Several Ukrainian officials spoke of fierce battles in the region in recent weeks, but verified Pavlivka’s loss.
In Luhansk, an eastern region illegally annexed through Moscow, Kyivan forces have retaken 12 settlements, the region’s Ukrainian governor, Serhiy Haidai, said.
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Associated Press editors John Leicester in Kyiv, Ukraine, and Hanna Arhirova in Odessa, Ukraine, contributed to this report.
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Follow AP’s of the war in Ukraine: https://apnews. com/hub/russia-ukraine
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