Ukraine’s Zelensky proclaims strategic Kherson ‘ours’

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky declared Kherson "ours" after Russia withdrew troops from the city, which the US hailed Saturday as an "extraordinary victory".

"We are winning battles on the ground. But the war continues," foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba said after Ukraine's triumphant recovery of Kherson — the only regional capital Moscow had captured in the nine months since Russia's invasion.

READ MORE

Twitter could be bankrupt says Elon Musk even as key executives resign

Emirates flight returns to Athens after takeoff following security alert

In the port city located on the Black Sea, the Ukrainian national anthem rang out in the central Kherson square as a small crowd sang along while huddled around a bonfire, a video published by Ukraine's parliament on social media showed.

"Special units are already in the city," Zelensky wrote on Telegram, posting footage in which Ukrainian troops appeared to gather with residents.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky speaks in Kyiv. File photo

About 50 kilometres (30 miles) from Kherson, Andriy Zholob, a commander of a medical unit, said they had greeted by smiling faces and given "embroidered towels which we display on our vehicles".

"We see children running to meet us and greeting us," Zholob told AFP.

In nearby Mykolaiv province, which Russian forces have failed to capture despite months of attacks, governor Vitaliy Kim said the entire region, save for the Kinburn cape in the south, had been returned to Ukrainian control.

"Now it's official: the entire Mykolaiv region (except Kinburn) has been liberated," Kim wrote on Telegram.

A woman holds a slogan which reads "11/11/2022 — Kherson — Ukraine" in Maidan Square in Kyiv on Friday. AFP

"It's a big moment and it's due to the incredible tenacity and skill of the Ukrainians, backed by the relentless and united support of the United States and our allies," US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said while travelling to Cambodia with President Joe Biden for a regional summit.

But Kuleba -- attending the same summit — warned that Kyiv still sees "Russia mobilising more conscripts and bringing more weapons to Ukraine".

"I understand that everyone wants this war to end as soon as possible," he said during a meeting with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in which he called for the Western world's continued support.

"We are definitely the ones who want that more than anyone else."

Ukrainian television back on

In Kherson, Kyiv's forces reconnected the local television network to Ukrainian broadcasters after local media reported that retreating Russian forces blew up the television tower and energy facilities, leaving the city without power.

People celebrate after Russia's retreat from Kherson, in central Kyiv, Ukraine, on Friday. Reuters

Kyiv's defence ministry said earlier Friday that Kherson "is returning to Ukrainian control and units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine are entering the city".

Ukrainian artillery teams had clear views of Russia's routes of retreat and warned: "Any attempts to oppose the Armed Forces of Ukraine will be stopped."

Russia's defence ministry said "more than 30,000 Russian servicemen, about 5,000 pieces of hardware and military equipment and materiel have been withdrawn".

Kherson was the first major urban hub to fall after President Vladimir Putin ordered Russian troops into Ukraine on February 24.

Its full recapture by Kyiv would be a political and symbolic blow to Putin and open a gateway for Ukraine's forces to the entire Kherson region, with access to both the Black Sea in the west and Sea of Azov in the east.

"Ukraine is gaining another important victory right now and proves that whatever Russia says or does, Ukraine will win," Kuleba wrote on social media.

He posted an amateur video showing Ukrainians removing a billboard near Kherson that proclaimed: "Russia is here forever".

Agence France-Presse