Ukraine war: Tears of relief and joy in Kherson as Ukrainians oppressed by Russian troops cling to their liberators | World News

With the importance of the moment still engulfed in the moment, a girl in a red coat skips several cars and runs through traffic to throw her bracelet around a Ukrainian soldier.

It’s a celebratory scene that’s being repeated all over Kherson, now liberated from Russian control.

Everyone in uniform is being greeted like a hero – emancipation is clearly a good feeling and they are clutching it.

This goes like UkraineThe anthem banned during the Russian occupation resounded throughout the central square.

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One woman, who told me her name was Babushka Alla, was overjoyed – and wanted to thank the armed forces.

“We are glad that our strong men have returned to us and freed us from the occupiers!”

The people here had to live for less than nine months of the dreaded occupation.

With this in mind, it’s easy to see why they shed tears of relief and joy and clung to their liberators.

I met Natalia, who was trying to hold back her tears.

“We are afraid only. We are afraid of everything. We are afraid of cars, we are afraid of using the phone, we have hidden everything, we have hidden our children!”

Celebrations are contagious. People danced and threw their arms in the air.

People waved flags and some even glided around the city on top of cars chanting: “Glory to Ukraine, Glory to heroes.”

Many here fear this time will never come.

And now they are cherishing it. It was a rare piece of good news in a war that had caused so much pain.

And it was probably a reflection of the strength of the residents who continued as a kind of normal.

Some shops are open and there are some cars on the road. But the smashed buildings and the dark secrets they hide are hard to forget.

Members of Russia’s internal security department, the FSB, were based in a downtown hotel before it was hit by a Ukrainian artillery attack.

Since then they have implemented the oppressive regime of Moscow.

Olga, who arrives outside the building, is demanding justice. She said that many people in the city simply disappeared.

“They went to drink water – and they were gone! They went to the market – go! They went to buy medicine – disappeared! A lot of people have disappeared.”

Surviving under occupation is a life lived in fear. And while freedom is a powerful currency, basic services are still being cut.

There was no electricity and there were people queuing for water everywhere. People waited in line patiently holding empty plastic bottles.

Russians have spent time here talking about a new motherland. Posters for the fake referendum still hung all over the city.

But the illegal annexation of Vladimir Putin and the declaration of Kherson as Russia’s forever makes no sense when the people here have a different idea of ​​who they want to be.

And that is obvious since most of the city’s population is wearing a Ukrainian flag, or holding a flag.

The truth is that Moscow’s forces built nothing and they destroyed a lot. The TV tower was a twisted skeleton of scorched metal.

The Russians blew it up as they left, cutting off phones and the internet, a farewell gift from a defeated and humiliated army.

The Russians may have retreated, but they haven’t gone far.

Now they were just two kilometers from the east bank of the Dnipro – smoke billowing on the horizon as explosions rang out in the distance.

It’s a sobering reminder that this war is far from over.

Now, though, for everyone, it’s all about reconnecting with the outside world.

Back in the central square, the soldiers set up satellite internet so people could tell their loved ones they were okay.

Staring at their phones, everyone tries to catch enough signal to get a message. But amid this joy and relief, there are moments of reflection.

In fluent English, Andrii described to me the past nine months.

“Finally feel free. It feels like victory is coming. From day one, I knew it was coming. You have to have something for you to live for and this is the time to live. Great day. Liberation isn’t something that happens every year. It’s something that happens once every five generations. It’s a moment to stay.”

There is also anger at what Russia has done to Ukraine.

As we left the city center, we saw a group of young men tearing up posters of the Russian invaders.

And as the Kremlin’s forces were retreating here, they began to chant loudly, ready their troops to liberate the rest of the country.