Ukrainian president addresses troops in Kherson
Kherson: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited Kherson and addressed troops there, days after Russian forces were forced to retreat from the city after months of occupation.
“We are moving forward,” he told troops standing in front of the administration building in the city’s main square. “We are ready for peace, peace for all our country.”
Zelenskyy thanked Nato and other allies for their support in the war against Russia and said the delivery of high mobility artillery rocket systems (HIMARS) from the United States had made a big difference for Kyiv.
Parents with children, some pushing baby strollers, also gathered in the main square.
Some waved Ukrainian flags and others had the flag draped over their shoulders.
“I’m really happy, you can tell by the reaction of the people, their reaction is not staged,” he said in a comments witnessed by a Reuters correspondent in Kherson.
Asked where Ukrainian forces might advance next, he said: “Not Moscow ... We’re not interested in the territories of another country.”
Minutes before he arrived, nearby shelling could be heard by people in the centre of Kherson.
After Zelenskyy finished speaking, several more of blasts artillery gunfire echoed over the city.
Ukrainian troops arrived in the centre of Kherson on Friday after Russia abandoned the only regional capital it had captured since Moscow launched its invasion.
In his nightly video address on Sunday, Zelenskyy said “investigators have already documented more than 400 Russian war crimes, and the bodies of civilians and military personnel have been found.”
“In the Kherson region, the Russian army left behind the same atrocities as in other regions of our country,” he said. “We will bring to justice every murderer.”
The end of Russia’s eight-month occupation of Kherson city has sparked days of celebration but also exposed a humanitarian emergency, with residents living without power and water and short of food and medicines.