The Ukrainian head of state announced that “every murderer” would be “found and brought to justice”. 400 Russian “war crimes” have been documented, he added. He did not say whether this figure referred solely to the Cherson region.
Around nine months after the start of the war, Moscow had ordered the withdrawal from the Ukrainian city of Cherson and the north of the region of the same name in view of the progress of the Ukrainian counter-offensive. On Friday, the Russian army completely evacuated the regional capital.
The withdrawal represented a bitter defeat for Russia. Cherson was the only regional capital that the Russian troops had captured. For Moscow, the region is also of great strategic importance in order to be able to continue the offensive in the direction of Mykolaiv and the Black Sea port of Odessa.
