Gunfire drowns out cheers as Zelensky visits liberated city
Adefiant Volodymyr Zelensky stood hand on heart yesterday for a flag-raising ceremony as he refused to let the distant sound of explosions interrupt his surprise visit to newly liberated Kherson.
Surrounded by dozens of heavily armed special forces with sights aimed at the rooftops, the Ukrainian president hailed the southern city’s recapture as the “beginning of the end of the war” as the national flag was hoisted over Freedom Square.
Ukrainians in full voice celebrated shoulder to shoulder with soldiers, chanting their wartime leader’s name, only to be drowned out by frequent bursts of artillery fire.
The crashes and rumbles of long-range exchanges between Ukrainian and Russian forces offered the droves of Khersonites a reminder their city remains on the front line of the war, despite its historic liberation.
“We are, step by step, coming to all of our country,” Mr Zelensky said to the hundreds of locals, many draped in the blue and yellow of the Ukrainian flag, gathered outside the Kherson region’s administrative building.
“I am happy we are in Kherson,” added Mr Zelensky, barely visible among his security detail.
The president’s visit to the city breathing its first taste of freedom after almost nine months of occupation wasn’t without risk. Just days before, the Russian flag flew above the imposing Kherson regional administration building, from where Moscow’s occupational forces ruled the city with an iron fist.
Despite having retreated to the left bank of the Dnipro river, Russia’s artillery units still very much have the regional capital within their sights.
But the sounds of shells – incoming and outgoing – whizzing through the air, as well the controlled explosions from efforts to clear mines in the area, didn’t dampen the mood.
Mr Zelensky brushed off suggestions that the liberation was simply the result of a Russian withdrawal.
“Nobody just gave us anything. The price of this victory is considered very high,” he said, in an admission of the high costs of recapturing Kherson.
“I think they ran because our army threatened the enemy and they were in grave danger,” he added. “There were intense fights. And here is the result: we are here today in Kherson.”
His visit provided a significant morale boost at a time when
Kyiv is under pressure from
‘Nobody gave us anything. The price of this victory is considered very high’
the West to consider peace talks with Moscow as winter sets in.
“We are ready for peace, but peace for our entire country. This is the territory of our entire state,” Mr Zelensky told reporters in Kherson, in a clear snub to allies seeking an immediate diplomatic solution.
But it wasn’t all serious business for the Ukrainian president, a former comedian, who found time to joke about not wanting to capture Moscow when asked about Ukraine’s next move and quip about visiting Kherson because he “wanted a watermelon”, for which the region is famous.
His entrance and exit from the city, however, provided a stark reminder of the horrors of war.
Forced to take winding dirt roads through the recently captured village of Kyselivka because the bridge on the main highway had been destroyed, the presidential motorcade passed a twisted and bloated corpse left to rot at a nearby petrol station. While council workers and locals were still pulling down dozens of Russian propaganda posters plastered across the city’s billboards on the route to freedom square before their leader’s visit.
Overall, Mr Zelensky spent about 10 minutes addressing and mingling with the assembled crowds, who had no idea he was about to visit.
His appearance was greeted with chants of “Zel-en-sky”, “Putin is a d------d” and “glory to our nation”.
Even after three days of celebrations, Kherson’s residents were still in a buoyant mood – many had been in hiding for months to avoid the Russian occupiers. Adults and children alike clambered all over the plinth where a statue of Vladimir Lenin, torn down in 2014, once stood.
Now, the makeshift monument pays homage to the fight for Ukraine’s freedom, with its national flag planted alongside the EU banner, a popular trend during the 2014 Maidan revolution.
But even with the president’s presence in the city, the plaudits went to the Ukrainian soldiers. Women showered troops with handpicked bouquets of flowers and young children leapt into their arms for hugs.
“The armed forces of Ukraine are the main heroes, President Zelensky is just doing his job,” said retired Anna, who travelled to freedom square with husband Viktor from their summer house outside the city where they had been sheltering from the Russians.