Ukraine’s Zelensky visits recaptured Kherson City: ‘We are moving forward’
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Monday visited the country’s southern city of Kherson to celebrate its recapture from Russian troops with residents and soldiers after months of Russian occupation, news agencies reported. It is reported by Upmp.news with reference to “Polskie Radio”.
“We are moving forward,” Zelensky told the media after addressing troops in the city’s main square, Polish state news agency PAP reported.
“I’m really happy,” Zelensky said, as quoted by the Reuters news agency. “You can tell by the reaction of the people, their reaction is not staged. The people were waiting for the Ukrainian army, for our soldiers, for all of us.”
He thanked NATO and other allies for their support and said that the delivery of High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) from the United States had made a big difference to Ukraine’s war effort against Russia, Reuters reported.
Zelensky said on Sunday that investigators had uncovered more than 400 Russian war crimes in his country’s southern Kherson region after the withdrawal of Russian forces.
The Ukrainian leader last Friday announced the liberation of Kherson City after Russian forces withdrew from the area earlier that day.
The Ukrainian counteroffensive that forced Russian troops to retreat from Kherson last week was one of Kyiv’s biggest military successes since Moscow invaded in late February, according to Reuters.
Meanwhile, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), a US think tank, assessed that the Ukrainians were likely to press ahead with their counteroffensive operations against Russian forces.
The Washington-based think tank said in its latest analysis of Russia’s military campaign in Ukraine that Ukrainian troops “will likely use combat power recouped from the liberation of western Kherson to reinforce their ongoing counter-offensive in Luhansk Oblast or to open a new counter-offensive drive elsewhere.”
The ISW observed that “any attempt at a ceasefire or cessation of hostilities at this time would overwhelmingly favor Russia.”
“This is not the time to slow down aid or press for ceasefires or negotiations, but rather the time to help Ukraine take advantage of its momentum in conditions that favor Kyiv rather than Moscow,” it said.
Monday is day 264 of Russia’s war in Ukraine.
(gs)
Source: IAR, PAP, Reuters