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Liberation of Kherson sparks outpouring of joy and tears in Kyiv
Residents of Kherson gathered in Kyiv's Maidan Square on Friday (Nov 11) to celebrate the liberation of their home city -- the first outpouring of joy in the capital in nearly nine months of war.
Russia's defence ministry said earlier on Friday it had completed the withdrawal of troops from the western bank of the Dnipro river in Ukraine's southern Kherson region.
"My city, where I was born and where I've lived my whole life, is finally free," said 17-year-old Nastia Stepenska, her eyes welling with tears.
"When (the Russians) arrived, it was horrible. We didn't know what was going to happen the next day or if we'd even still be alive," the school student said, admitting she was in a state of shock.
Under the square's victory column commemorating Ukraine's independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, Kherson's displaced residents belted out the national anthem in unison and wiped their tears.
Then they chanted the numbers of the first Ukrainian army brigades to enter Kherson -- the first major urban hub to fall to the Russians and the first to be taken back.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday said special units of the armed forces were already in the southern city of Kherson following Russia's withdrawal and described the moment as historic.
In a statement issued in Russian, Ukraine's defence intelligence agency said on Friday Kherson was coming back under Ukrainian control after being occupied since March and threatened to "destroy" any Russian soldiers who resisted.
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"Today is a historic day. We are getting the south of the country back, we are getting Kherson back," Zelensky said in an evening video address.
"As of now, our defenders are on the outskirts of the city, and we are very close to entering. But special units are already in the city," he continued.
The city could 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.
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