Kherson celebrates liberation—and a visit from Volodymyr Zelensky
Nov 14th 2022 | Kherson
https://www.economist.com/europe/2022/11/14/kherson-celebrates-liberation-and-a-visit-from-volodymyr-zelensky
N NOVEMBER 14TH, four days after Ukrainian troops retook the city of Kherson, people continued to gather on the main square, to celebrate and wave Ukrainian flags, to greet liberating soldiers with hugs and bouquets of flowers—and to try to get a mobile-phone signal. Covering their retreat, the Russians had cut the electricity supply, toppled the television tower and destroyed phone masts. Over the weekend a Starlink satellite connection was set up in the square, but service is patchy. Under a bright blue sky, people tapped screens and held them hopefully aloft.
In mid-morning, President Volodymyr Zelensky made a surprise appearance. He addressed a company of soldiers, bowed his head in commemoration and sang the national anthem as the flag was raised. In his Sunday address he had said that officials had discovered evidence of more than 400 war crimes in the region and added that “the situation in the Kherson region is still very dangerous”.
Villagers tell of life under occupation in Kherson province
Destruction and killing were commonplace
Economist Nov 11th 2022 | Bilyaivka
“ON NOVEMBER 10TH, the day after the Russians announced their intended withdrawal from Kherson city, the crump of artillery could be heard in the village of Bilyaivka, 20km (12 miles) north of the front line. The Russians were still fighting a rearguard action while evacuating their forces across the Dnieper river. (By the following day, reportedly, they would be gone.) A plume of black smoke rose from the wide steppe into the blue sky.
“It used to be non-stop,” said Valentina Stupak, a hale babushka with gold teeth and gold earrings, shushing the barking dogs tethered in her yard. “Then our Ukrainians pushed them back and they answered with missiles.” [con’t]