Zelenskyy calls Kherson liberation 'beginning of the end of the war'

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy walked the streets of the newly liberated city of Kherson on Monday, hailing Russia's withdrawal as the "beginning of the end of the war," but also acknowledging the heavy price Ukrainian troops are paying in their effort to push back the invaders.

The retakingof Kherson was one of Ukraine's biggest successes in the nearly nine-month war, dealing anotherstinging blow tothe Kremlin.It could serve as a springboard for more advances into occupied territory.

U.S. President Joe Biden called it a "significant victory" for Ukraine.

"I can do nothing but applaud the courage, determination and capacity of the Ukrainian people, the Ukrainian military," he said on the sidelines of a Group of 20 summit in Indonesia.

Large parts of eastern and southern Ukraineare still under Russian control, and the city of Kherson itself remains within reach of Moscow's shells and missiles. Heavy fighting continued elsewhere in Ukraine.

Russia's state news agency RIA Novosti reported that the town of Oleshky, in Russian-held territory across the river from Kherson, came under heavy artillery fire.

Infrastructure challenges

Zelenskyy awarded medals to soldiers and posed with them for selfies while striking a defiant tone.

"This is the beginning of the end of the war," he said. "We are, step by step, coming to all the temporarily occupied territories."

But he also grimly noted that the fighting "took the best heroes of our country."

The end of Russia's occupation of the city the only provincial capital seized since the invasion in February has sparked days of celebration. But as winter approaches, its remaining 80,000 residents are without heat, water and electricity, and short on food and medicine.

Zelenskyy saidthe city is laced with booby traps and mines. And Ukrainian authorities say there are signs of atrocities emerging, just as in other liberated areas.

Russian forces "destroyed everything in their path, wrecked the entire electricity network," Zelenskyysaid.

Communications operators said cellular telephone service was being restored and the regional governor said a public wireless internet access point would begin working on Tuesday.

Don't underestimate Russia, NATO chiefwarns

The Institute for the Study of War said Ukraine has won "an important victory" in recapturing the city and other areas west of the DniproRiver, but the Washington-based think-tank noted that "it has by no means liberated the minimum territory essential to its future security and economic survival."

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenbergwarned that Moscow should not be underestimated.

"The Russian armed forces retain significant capability as well as a large number of troops, and Russia has demonstrated their willingness to bear significant losses," hesaidin The Hague.

In Ankara, Turkey, CIA director Bill Burns met with his Russian intelligence counterpart, Sergey Naryshkin, to underscore the consequences if Moscow were to deploy a nuclear weapon in Ukraine, according to a White House National Security Council official.

The official, who was not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity, said Burns and Naryshkin, the head of Russia's SVR spy agency, did not discuss settlement of the war. Their meeting was the highest-ranking face-to-face engagement between U.S. and Russian officials since before Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the Feb. 24invasion.

While U.S. officials for months have warned that Russia could use weapons of mass destruction in Ukraine amid battlefield setbacks, Biden administration officials have repeatedly said nothing has changed in U.S. intelligence assessments to suggest that Putin has imminent plans to deploy nuclear weapons.

The UNGeneral Assembly, meanwhile, passed a resolution calling forthe establishment ofa mechanism to assess Russian reparations for damages and injuries in Ukraine. The resolution is not binding and Russia's ambassador said it had no legal validity.

Torture,war crimes documented,Zelenskyy says

Zelenskyy's trip to Kherson was another in a series of unexpected visits tofront-line zones at crucial junctures of the war.Itwas laden with symbolism and the common touch aimed at boosting the morale of soldiers and civilians alike.

In a video, a visibly moved Zelenskyy stood with his hand on his heart and sang the national anthemas troops saluted and stood at attention, and asoldier raised the yellow-and-blue Ukrainian flag.

People with flags draped around their shoulders cheered, cried and shouted in gratitude as Zelenskyy walked by.

"It's amazing. We've been waiting for him for nine months. Thank you," resident Danila Yuhrenkosaid.

Kremlin spokespersonDmitry Peskov refused to comment on Zelenskyy's visit, except to say:"You know that it is the territory of the Russian Federation."Russia illegally annexed the Kherson region and three other Ukrainian provinces earlier this year, in addition to annexing the Crimean Peninsula in 2014.

In his Sunday nightaddress, Zelenskyy said that "investigators have already documented more than 400 Russian war crimes, and the bodies of both civilians and military personnel have been found."

"In the Kherson region, the Russian army left behind the same atrocities as in other regions of our country," he said. "We will find and bring to justice every murderer. Without a doubt."

War continues as both sides report gains

Residents said Russian troops plundered the cityandwrecked key infrastructure before retreating across the wide DniproRiver to its east bank last week.

The arrival of winter is making the situation more difficult, with NATO's Stoltenberg saying that Putin is aiming "to leave Ukraine cold and dark this winter."

Biden said he expected things to slow down somewhat militarily "because of the winter months and the inability to move as easily around."

WATCH |Ukraine will extend fight againstRussia this winter, says analyst:

Ukraine will continue hard push against Russia through winter, says analyst

2 years ago

Duration 5:34

Ukrainian troops appear ready to extend the fight with Russia in the southern part of the country into winter after Ukraine's triumphant liberation of Kherson, says retired U.S. general Philip Breedlove, a former NATO supreme allied commander of Europe.

In the past two months, Ukraine's military claimed to have retaken dozens of towns and villages north of the city of Kherson,a key gateway to Crimea to the south.

But the grinding war continued with shelling, civilian casualties and each side reporting gains.

The Russian Defence Ministry said its forces had completely captured the village of Pavlivka in the eastern Donetsk region. Multiple Ukrainian officials have reported heavy battles in the area in recent weeks but did not confirm the loss of Pavlivka.

In Luhansk, another eastern region illegally annexed by Moscow, Kyiv's forces have retaken 12 settlements,regional Gov. Serhiy Haidai said.