Celebrations in Kherson after Russia pulls troops
Ukraine forces look to clear mines, equipment
MYKOLAIV, Ukraine — Ukraine’s president said Friday that special military units have entered Kherson, a major regional capital that Russian forces had captured early in the war. Residents took to the streets to celebrate Russia’s withdrawal, the latest pullback by Moscow as it faces intense resistance.
In a video address hours after Russia said it had completed withdrawing troops from the strategically key city, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said: “As of now, our defenders are approaching the city. In quite a bit, we are going to enter. But special units are already in the city.”
Russia relinquished its final foothold in the major city, one of the first to be captured in the invasion that began Feb. 24.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said its troops finished withdrawing from the western bank of the river that divides Ukraine’s Kherson region at 5 a.m. The area they left included the city of Kherson, the only provincial capital Russia had captured during its nearly nine-month invasion of Ukraine.
Videos and photos on social media showed residents jubilantly taking to the streets, waving Ukrainian flags and chanting in celebration. A Ukrainian flag flew over a monument in a central Kherson square for the first time since the city was seized in early March. Some footage showed crowds cheering men in military uniform and tossing one man wearing combat fatigues up in the air. Other videos showed villagers embracing troops en route to the city.
Zelenskyy said Russian forces placed mines in the city and that after troops enter, they will be followed by sappers, rescue workers and energy personnel. Despite the daunting tasks ahead, “Medicine, communications, social services are returning. … Life is returning,” he said.
A Ukrainian regional official, Serhii Khlan, disputed the Russian Defense Ministry’s claim that its 30,000 retreating troops took all 5,000 pieces of equipment with them, saying “a lot” of hardware got left behind.
The final Russian withdrawal came six weeks after Russian President Vladimir Putin illegally annexed the Kherson region and three other Ukrainian provinces, vowing they would remain Russian forever. Moscow’s forces still control about 70% of the Kherson region.
In Kyiv, celebrations on the capital’s main square continued into the night, with people popping open wine bottles and shouting “Glory to Ukraine.”
The Kremlin remained defiant Friday, insisting the withdrawal in no way represented an embarrassment for Putin. Moscow continues to view the entire Kherson region as part of Russia, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
Putin has so far been silent about Kherson, despite making several public appearances since the withdrawal was announced.
Some quarters of the Ukrainian government barely disguised their glee at the pace of the Russian withdrawal.
“The Russian army leaves the battlefields in a triathlon mode: steeplechase, broad jumping, swimming,” Andriy Yermak, a senior presidential adviser, tweeted.
Recapturing Kherson city could provide Ukraine a strong position from which to expand its southern counteroffensive to other Russian-occupied areas, potentially including Crimea, which Moscow seized in 2014.