Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Monday said he hoped that the recapture of Kherson was the “beginning of the end of the war”, as he lauded soldiers and took selfies with them in the recently liberated southern city.
Mr Zelenskyy made the unexpected appearance in the city only hours after warning in his nightly video address of booby traps and mines left behind by the Russians before their retreat.
In Kherson, he distributed medals to Ukrainian troops in a central square and posed for selfies with them.
Video footage showed him waving to residents, some of whom shouted from an apartment window: “Glory to Ukraine!” The reply “Glory to the heroes!” came back from Mr Zelenskyy’s group, made up of soldiers and others.
“Is it the beginning of the end of the war? Of course, you see our strong army, we are step by step coming to our country, to all the temporarily occupied territories,” Mr Zelenskyy told reporters after addressing troops in the city's main square.
“We are ready for peace — but our peace … For all our country, all our territory,” he said. However, minutes before he arrived, nearby shelling could be heard, and after he finished speaking several more blasts of artillery echoed over the city.
After Russia's retreat from Kherson last week, Mr Zelenskyy on Sunday accused Russian soldiers of committing war crimes and killing civilians in the city.
“Investigators have already documented more than 400 Russian war crimes,” Mr Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address.
“Bodies of dead civilians and servicemen have been found.
“The Russian Army left behind the same savagery it did in other regions of the country it entered.”
Russia has denied that its troops intentionally aimed for civilians.
Mass graves have been found in sites across Ukraine since the Russian invasion, with some civilian bodies showing evidence of torture found in the Kharkiv region and in Bucha, near Kyiv.
Ukraine accused Russian troops of committing these crimes.
Ukrainian Troops in Kherson — in pictures
-
People celebrate after Russia's retreat from Kherson in central Kyiv, Ukraine. Reuters -
A child holds a Ukranian flag as people gather in Maidan square to celebrate the liberation of Kherson. AFP -
A woman gets colours of the Ukranian flag painted on her face as people gather in Maidan square to celebrate the liberation of Kherson, in Kyiv. AFP -
A woman holds a slogan which reads as 'Kherson' as people gather in Maidan square to celebrate the liberation of Kherson, in Kyiv. AFP -
People gathered in Maidan Square to celebrate the liberation of Kherson, in kyiv. AFP -
A man holds a Ukranian flag as people gather in Maidan Square to celebrate the liberation of Kherson, in Kyiv. AFP -
People hold a Ukranian flag as they gather in Maidan square to celebrate the liberation of Kherson, in Kyiv. AFP -
A Ukrainian service member stands next to a previously captured Russian armoured personnel carrier in the village of Blahodatne, retaken by the Ukrainian Armed Forces, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kherson region, Ukraine. Reuters -
Ukrainian service members walk to a previously captured Russian armoured personnel carrier in the village of Blahodatne, retaken by the Ukrainian Armed Forces a day ago, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kherson region, Ukraine. Reuters
A UN commission last month said war crimes were committed in Ukraine and that Russian troops were responsible for the “vast majority” of human rights breaches in the early weeks of the war.
Ukrainian troops arrived in the centre of the southern Kherson region last Friday after Russia abandoned the only regional capital it had captured since invading in February.
The withdrawal was the third major Russian retreat of the war and the first to involve such a large occupied city, after a major Ukrainian counter-offensive that has retaken parts of the east and south.
Ukrainian soldier celebrates with Kherson residents after Russian withdrawal — video
Utility companies in the Kherson region were trying to restore critical infrastructure damaged and mined by fleeing Russian troops.
Most homes in the city were without electricity and water, regional officials said.
On Sunday, artillery fire being exchanged over the city failed to discourage crowds of jubilant, flag-waving residents from gathering on Kherson's main square, bundled up against the wintry cold.
The crowds tried to catch mobile phone signals from Starlink ground stations on Ukrainian military vehicles.
Tears of joy as Ukrainian armed forces arrive — video
“We are happy now, but all of us are afraid of the bombing from the left bank,” said Yana Smyrnova, 35, a singer.
She was referring to Russian guns on the east side of the Dnipro river that flanks part of the city.
Ms Smyrnova said she and her friends had to get water from the river for bathing and flushing their toilets, and only a few residents were lucky enough to have generators that create power to receive water from wells.
The governor of Kherson region, Yaroslav Yanushevych, said authorities had decided to maintain a curfew from 5pm to 8am and ban people from leaving or entering the city as a security measure.
“The enemy mined all critical infrastructure,” he told Ukrainian TV.
“We are trying to meet within a few days and open the city.”
Ukraine war latest — in pictures
-
Smoke rises on the outskirts of the city during a Russian missile attack in Kyiv. Reuters -
Workers surround the Monument to the Heroes of the Heavenly Hundred with sandbags against damage from shelling in Mykolaiv. EPA -
Russian President Vladimir Putin welcomes Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev for talks before a meeting between the Russian president and the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan in the Black Sea resort city of Sochi, Russia. AFP -
People take water from a water pump in Kyiv. EPA -
A woman walks past a damaged building in the town of Nova Kakhovka. Reuters -
A woman outside her home, which was destroyed during battles at the start of the conflict, in Yahidne, Chernihiv. Getty Images -
People shelter inside a subway station during a Russian missile attack in Kyiv. Reuters -
Firefighters at the site of a drone attack in Kyiv, Ukraine. AP -
A woman walks past the site of a Russian missile strike in the southern Ukrainian city of Mykolaiv. Reuters -
Rescuer workers at a building destroyed in an attack in Mykolaiv. Reuters -
Parts of a drone lie on a street in Kyiv. Reuters -
A drone flies over the Ukrainian capital during an attack. AFP -
Ukrainian servicemen tow a captured Russian armoured vehicle in Rudneve village, Kharkiv. EPA -
A partially destroyed residential building in Saltivka, in Kharkiv. AP -
Ukrainian servicemen fire a captured Russian howitzer on a front line near Kupyansk city, Kharkiv. EPA -
Ukrainian servicemen near the recently retaken town of Lyman in Donetsk region. AFP -
An officer from a Ukrainian national police emergency demining team prepares to detonate collected anti-tank mines and explosives near Lyman, in the Donetsk region. AFP -
A boy playing on a destroyed Russian tank on display in Kyiv. AFP -
A young couple hiding underground during an air alert in Zaporizhzhia. AFP -
Ukrainian firefighters looking for survivors after a strike in Zaporizhzhia. AFP -
Workers fix a banner reading 'Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, Kherson - Russia!' to the State Historical Museum near Red Square in Moscow. AFP -
Residents try to cross a destroyed bridge in the Kharkiv region of Ukraine. AFP -
Alyona Kishinskaya helps to clean up a shop as it prepares to reopen in Balakiya, Ukraine, after a six-month Russian occupation. Getty Images -
Alla, 12, has a swinging time in Balakiya, Ukraine, as life goes on despite the war. Getty Images -
Ukrainian flags in the town square in Balakiya. Getty Images -
A destroyed Russian command centre in Izium, Ukraine. Getty Images -
In what may be a final farewell, young Russian recruits - escorted by their wives - walk to a train station in Volgograd before being sent to war in Ukraine. AP -
Russian recruits board the train to Ukraine in Volgograd. AP -
Ukrainian soliders drive a tank at the recently retaken eastern side of the Oskil River in Kharkiv region, Ukraine. AFP -
Volunteers pass boxes of food aid on a destroyed bridge over the Oskil River. AFP -
Ukrainian soliders rest on an armoured personnel carrier. AFP -
A sign warns of landmines in Izyum, eastern Ukraine. AFP -
This crater was left after a missile strike in the Donetsk region of Ukraine. AFP
Mr Zelenskyy also warned Kherson residents about the presence of Russian landmines.
“I am asking you please not to forget that the situation in Kherson region remains very dangerous,” he said.
Yuriy Sobolevskiy, first deputy chairman of Kherson regional council, told Ukrainian TV that even as the authorities were working to restore critical services, the humanitarian situation remained “very difficult”.
