“We’re taking back Kherson,” he said in his daily video message via Telegram on Friday. He had previously written that the city belonged to “our people” again. The United States spoke of an “extraordinary victory”. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba stressed on Saturday that the war was going on.Kiev (Kyiv)/Moscow. The Ukrainian army is on the outskirts of the city, Zelenskyj explained on Telegram. “But special forces are already in the city,” he added. Their first task will be to neutralize the numerous mines left behind by the Russian army.
The Ukrainian President praised the courage of the residents of Kherson, who have been under Russian occupation since mid-March. “They never gave up on Ukraine,” said Zelenskyy. A video shared by Zelenskyy was supposed to show Ukrainian soldiers who he said were being cheered on by a crowd.
“Kherson is Ukraine,” said Kiev Mayor Vitali Klitschko in an online service. Images of people in Kherson waving Ukrainian flags were also posted on social media.
“The War Continues”
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Kuleba called the Russian withdrawal “another important victory” for Ukraine. On Saturday, however, he emphasized: “We win battles on the ground. But the war goes on.”
The United States spoke of an “extraordinary victory” for Ukraine after the withdrawal of Russian troops on Saturday. “It looks like the Ukrainians have just won an extraordinary victory, with the only regional capital that Russia captured in that war now flying the Ukrainian flag again,” said National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan.
He said the Russian withdrawal had “broader strategic implications”. This includes reducing the longer-term threat posed by Russia to other southern Ukrainian cities such as Odessa. This great moment is due to the “incredible tenacity and skill of the Ukrainians”. He also referred to the support of the United States and other countries.
Strategically important city
Nine months after the start of the war, the Russian army evacuated the strategically important city of Cherson on Friday morning. At 5:00 a.m. (4:00 a.m. CET) “the transfer of Russian soldiers to the left bank of the Dnipro (Dnepr) river was over,” the Russian Defense Ministry said in online services.
Accordingly, “not a single piece of military equipment and weapons” was left behind on the other side of the river. The Russian army said it had withdrawn more than 30,000 troops from the north of the Kherson region.
In view of the progress of the Ukrainian counter-offensive, the Russian army ordered its withdrawal from the north of the Kherson region and its capital of the same name on Wednesday. The city was the first major urban center to be taken by Russian forces since the February 24 attack on Ukraine, which Moscow has dubbed a “special military operation.” It was also the only Russian-controlled regional capital in Ukraine.
For Moscow, the region is of great strategic importance in order to be able to continue the offensive in the direction of Mykolaiv and the Black Sea port of Odessa. In addition, Kherson is home to the Kakhovka Dam, which supplies water to the Crimean peninsula annexed by Russia.
At the end of September, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the annexation of Cherson and three other Ukrainian regions. On Friday, the Kremlin declared that Kherson would remain part of Russian territory despite the troop withdrawal. The region is “a subject of the Russian Federation,” said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, using the Russian term for administrative units.
The Cherson region has been the target of the Ukrainian counter-offensive for weeks. The Russian withdrawal was preceded by territorial gains by Ukrainian forces in the region.
Source: Nachrichten
