Ukraine War: Ukraine hails "historic day" as flag flies again over Kherson
Kyiv, Ukraine - After the retreat of Russian soldiers, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky reported a further advance of his own troops into the regional capital Kherson in the south of Ukraine, where war-battered residents rejoiced at their arrival.
"Today is a historic day," Zelensky said in his video address on Friday evening.
The city has not yet been completely liberated from the "presence of the enemy," he explained, but Ukrainian special forces are already on the ground.
The residents of Kherson removed Russian symbols from streets and buildings as they euphorically greeted Ukrainian soldiers with hugs, applause, and loud music. Others wept with joy, as could be seen in videos posted to social media, while Ukraine's blue-and-yellow flag was flying once again on the local administration building.
Zelensky also released a video showing cavalcades of cars and cheering choruses for the Ukrainian soldiers.
"The people of Kherson have been waiting. They never gave up on Ukraine," he said. "It will be the same in the cities that are still waiting for us to take them back."
Russia's retreat from Kherson is an embarrassing blow
Under pressure from Ukrainian counteroffensives, Russia had announced the long-anticipated withdrawal of its own troops from the part of Kherson north-west of the Dnipro river last Wednesday. The regional capital of the same name, Kherson, is also located there.
The retreat is a major - and embarrassing - blow to Russia's military campaign. Kherson was the only regional capital fully occupied by Russian forces since the start of this year's invasion. Moscow said it could no longer adequately supply its troops in the city.
Just weeks ago, Russian President Vladimir Putin had annexed the region in violation of international law and absorbed it into Russia. Now, Putin's own troops have been forced to take flight.
The last Russian soldiers have been redeployed to new defensive positions on the eastern bank of the Dnipro river.
According to Ukrainian reports, Ukrainian units have also moved into the small town of Beryslav, not far from the Kakhovka Dam, in a part of Kherson still occupied by the Russians.
About 30,000 Russian troops participated in the withdrawal, according to Defense Ministry spokesperson Igor Konashenkov. He said that Russian forces began firing on land around the city of Kherson hours after ceding control there to Ukraine's military.
Konashenkov said all Russian units, along with hardware and equipment, had safely made it across the Dnipro to the eastern bank.
In several cases earlier this year, Russian forces fled so fast that they abandoned tanks, artillery and other weapons.
Nevertheless, the Kremlin continues to view Kherson province as a part of Russia.
Will Russia and Ukraine end the war?
The Kremlin also said it saw no way for peace talks with Ukraine, despite the week's events. Peskov said Russia is not ruling them out, but is seeing no interest from Kyiv's side in such talks at the moment.
"Kyiv does not want negotiations. The special military operation continues," Peskov said, using Moscow's preferred nomenclature for the eight-month-old war.
Highlighting that sentiment, Russian rocket attacks left a residential building destroyed in the city of Mykolayiv, Zelensky said on Friday. He called it a "cynical answer by a terrorist state" to recent Ukrainian battlefield gains.
Mykolayiv province Governor Vitalii Kim posted on Telegram that there were two dead and two injured in the attack on a five-story building.
Meanwhile, officials from both warring sides said another prisoner exchange had taken place, though details on the numbers were scarce. Kyiv said on Friday it secured the release of 45 members of its armed forces, but did not say how many Russians it handed over.
Cover photo: REUTERS