Ukrainian soldiers were greeted with cheers and kisses after retaking the southern city, but the toll of occupation was starting to emerge Monday as the wider conflict raged on. KHERSON, Ukraine — The city has no power or water, a brutal war rages just a few miles away and allegations are surfacing of Russian war crimes. But the triumph of liberation was still fresh in the Kherson air Monday, when Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited the crucial regional capital.
Zelenskyy was in town on an unannounced visit to greet jubilant residents and take selfies with soldiers — the blue and yellow flag again flying from official buildings and in the hands of cheering civilians.
“The moment is very important,” Zelenskyy, surrounded by ever-watchful soldiers, told NBC News. “That was the biggest city that was occupied since Feb. 24. So that was the biggest city and now it’s free.”
Kherson, a southern port city of huge strategic and symbolic importance, was retaken by Kyiv's troops just days ago after the latest humiliating Russian retreat. The toll of nearly nine months of occupation may be felt for years to come — but for now at least, there is celebration.
“This is the beginning of the end of the war,” Zelenskyy told reporters. “We are step by step coming to all the temporarily occupied territories.”
The high emotions of the city were summed up in a 9-second video that was shared widely across social media this weekend.
A Ukrainian soldier, Oleh, was one of the first to enter Kherson and went straight to his grandmother’s house. His grandma, Lidya Malahoval, can be seen collapsing to the floor and weeping.
Like so many, Malahoval was without power and had not seen the footage of their reunion — the emotions came flooding back to her later when NBC News found her and showed her the video.
“I was so, so happy to see him, my grandson, that he’s running to me, that he’s alive.” she said. She watches the moment again and again on a smartphone, kissing the screen when her grandson appears.
Oleksiy Hodzenko, a spokesman for the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense, was receiving hugs and thanks from repeated well-wishers in Kherson on Monday.
“The flags, they must have been hiding them for months, some of them underground,” he said. “Now people are happy as they understand that life is coming back. Where there is Moscow there is no life, only death.”
Steve Andre, from Detroit, Michigan, said he joined the Ukrainian army as a volunteer two months ago. On Monday he was shaking hands and signing autographs — in English — in Kherson.
“It’s incredible, you kind of feel like a rock star,” he said.