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Joyous Ukrainians took to Kherson City’s town square chanting, “Glory to Ukraine!” while welcoming a vanguard of liberating troops as Russia’s forces seemingly pulled out of the strategic capital ahead of Kyiv’s advance.
The city, which fell to the Kremlin’s invasion force in the opening hours of the war, had been poised for weeks to be the site of a cataclysmic battle between battle hardened Ukrainian troops and dug-in, recently reinforced Russians.
“Today is a historic day,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a videotaped address to the nation. “We are regaining Kherson.
“As of now, our defenders are approaching the city. But special units are already in the city. The people of Kherson were waiting. They never gave up on Ukraine,” he said.
“Hope for Ukraine is always justified – and Ukraine always regains its own,” he added.
Video from Kherson’s central square Friday showed dozens of Ukrainians celebrating, chanting victory slogans. Soldiers snapped selfies with the crowd, and two men hoisted a female soldier up onto their shoulders.
Additional celebrations were held in Kyiv, as Ukrainians in the capital took to the street to celebrate Kherson’s pending liberation.
