Just days after its liberation, Zelenskyy visits city of Kherson
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy (Photo:REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko)
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited the liberated city of Kherson in an unannounced visit on No. 14, just days after it was liberated from nine months of occupation by invading Russian forces.
He also addressed the military, saying that they were “moving forward” and that they are “ready for peace, peace for our entire country.”
“Step by step, we are going across our land,” Zelenskyy told a crowd of hundreds of people, many of whom were wrapped in Ukrainian flags, according to a report by U.S. newspaper the New York Times.
“I am happy that we are in Kherson,” Zelenskyy added.
Asked by a journalist why he had come to a war zone, where the enemy was so close, Zelenskyy joked, “I wanted a watermelon.” Kherson Oblast is famous in Ukraine for growing watermelons.
The Armed Forces of Ukraine entered the city of Kherson on Nov. 11, the regional capital having been occupied since the first days of Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine. Ukrainian flags are already hanging in the city, in particular over the State Administration building.
President Zelenskyy confirmed that the Armed Forces are liberating Kherson later that day. However, he noted, the city has not yet been completely cleared of the Russian invaders.
The Ministry of Defense notes that clearing up the city may take several weeks.
In total, as of the morning of Nov. 12, the Armed Forces had liberated more than 3,000 square kilometers in the south.
According to the General Staff, Ukrainian forces have already approached the Dnipro River in certain areas of the Kherson Oblast.
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