Ukrainians celebrate Russia’s withdrawal from Kherson by waving blue-and-yellow flags and singing patriotic songs.

Protesters, some with Ukrainian flags, chant “go home” as they march towards retreating Russian military vehicles during a pro-Ukrainian demonstration amid the Russian invasion of Kherson. (Photo: Reuters)

By India Today Web Desk: Vladimir Putin said that Russia would be here forever. In the end they left within five minutes and ran like goats, a Kherson resident told the newspaper Observer, as Russian troops withdrew from the region that had been under their control since the early days of the invasion of Ukraine.

“Putin wanted to kill us. He eventually destroyed his own country. Russia’s withdrawal from Kherson is a huge failure,” he said the guard.

Russia announced its withdrawal from Kherson because it was no longer possible to supply the city of Kherson. Though Ukraine remained wary of Russia’s trick, its forces invaded the region. Residents waved blue-and-yellow flags and celebrated their first hours of freedom.

READ | Kherson is ours, Zelenskyy says as Ukrainians celebrate Russian defeat

On Saturday, police, TV and radio services returned to the port city, which forms a land bridge from Russia to Crimea, the peninsula Moscow annexed in 2014.

Local residents danced around a bonfire outside the regional administration building, chanting patriotic songs and chanting ZSU, the initials of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, the guard reported. Some also waved banners decorated with watermelons, Kherson’s beloved fruit, the report said.

But there are many challenges in rebuilding a city practically destroyed in a war. Residents are without water, electricity, medicines and food, the AP reported. When the Russian troops left, there were practically no water supplies, an official told AP news agency.

ALSO READ | Russia leaves Ukrainian city of Kherson in major retreat

“Before fleeing Kherson, the occupiers destroyed all critical infrastructure – communications, water supply, heat, electricity,” President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a speech to his country.

As for the Russian troops, they are setting up defenses on the eastern bank of the Dnipro River. About 70% of the Kherson region is still under Russian control.

As Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said: Ukraine is winning battles on the ground, but the war continues.