“Beginning Of End Of War”: Ukraine’s Zelensky after major city freed
The takeover of Kherson is the latest in a string of shocks for the Kremlin, which invaded Ukraine on February 24 in the hope that a power takeover would topple the government within days.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Monday that the recapture of Kherson by Ukraine marked “the beginning of the end of the war” as he hailed the liberation of the city in a surprise visit.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg nevertheless warned that Ukraine faces difficulties in the coming months and said Russia’s military potential should not be underestimated.
And US President Joe Biden and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping – a key ally of Vladimir Putin – agreed in talks on Monday that nuclear weapons should never be used, including in Ukraine.
The Ukrainian president distributed images of Zelensky singing the national anthem with a hand on his chest as the country’s blue and yellow flag was hoisted next to the main administrative building in Kherson.
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“This is the beginning of the end of the war,” Zelensky said.
“It’s a long way, a hard way, because the war took the best heroes of our country. We are ready for peace but our peace, for our country it is our whole country, our whole region.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman denied that the Ukrainian leader’s visit had any impact on the situation in the Kherson region, which Moscow formally annexed last month.
In Kherson, Zelensky said that “the price of this war is high”.
“People are wounded. A huge number of dead. There were fierce battles, and the result is this – today we are in the Kherson region.”
His visit came just days after Ukrainian troops entered the city – the administrative center of the Kherson region – after Russia pulled back its forces on Friday.
The takeover is the latest in a string of setbacks for the Kremlin, which invaded Ukraine on February 24 in hopes of a power takeover that would topple the government in days.
Nevertheless, Stoltenberg said that “the coming months will be difficult” and cautioned that: “We must not make the mistake of underestimating Russia”.
“Putin aims to leave Ukraine cold and dark this winter,” he told a news conference in The Hague.
Russia has repeatedly targeted Ukrainian infrastructure, and the country’s national energy company said Moscow’s forces destroyed a major energy facility before retreating from the west bank of the Dnipro River.
A senior US military official also told reporters that there are early indications that Russian forces caused “significant damage to civilian infrastructure”, including “water and utility systems” before their departure.
The city of Kherson was the first major urban center for the Russian army and the only regional capital captured by Moscow’s troops.
Its recapture opens a gateway for Ukraine to the entire Kherson region, one of four that the Kremlin declared in September to be part of Russia.
Putin vowed to use all available means to protect Ukraine’s military from them, hinting at the use of nuclear weapons.
The White House said Biden and Xi agreed to talk at the G20 but that nuclear weapons should never be used, including in Ukraine.
“President Biden and President Xi reiterated their agreement that a nuclear war should never be fought and can never be won and underlined their opposition to the use or threat of nuclear weapons in Ukraine,” it said in a statement.
The director of the US Central Intelligence Agency, William Burns, meanwhile held talks with his Russian counterpart in Ankara and warned him about the consequences of using nuclear weapons.
“Beginning Of End Of War”: Ukraine’s Zelensky after major city freed
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by News East India staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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