Volodymyr Zelensky in Izyum, pays homage to the military and promises: "We will return to Crimea"

"Before, when we looked up, we were always looking for a blue sky. Today, when we look up, we look for only one thing: the flag of Ukraine.

And so it will be in every city and town. Ukrainians village. We are moving in only one direction: forward and towards victory ".

These are the inspired words spoken by the President of Ukraine

during his visit today to

, in the

region .

The city has been under Russian occupation for over five months since last April and has been a major logistics center for military operations in the Luhansk region.

She was freed thanks to the

in Kiev last Saturday 10 September.

Thousands of Russian soldiers fled, leaving behind a large amount of vehicles, weapons and ammunition.

In the central square of the city, surrounded by armed bodyguards and wearing a patch on his shoulder that read "Ukraine or death", Zelensky participated in the flag-raising ceremony: the national banner was hoisted over the fire-blackened town hall.

The surrounding buildings also show signs of fires and artillery damage.

Some are reduced to piles of rubble

Commenting on this devastation, Zelensky said: "It is not a shock to me ... because

", the suburb of Kiev where torture and summary executions were reported after the Russian withdrawal, "the same buildings destroyed. and the people killed "but" I never doubt "that on war crimes" there will be a court, there will be sentences ".

The president also underlined the welcome given to the soldiers by the population: "It means that

."

He then thanked the many soldiers present “for having saved our people, our hearts, the children and the future.

These have been very difficult months: take care of yourself, you are the most precious thing we have ”.

The president wanted to send a "

: "We know you are our people, it is a terrible tragedy that you have been under occupation for more than eight years.

", he said, adding that " it is possible to temporarily occupy the territories of our state. But it is definitely impossible to occupy our people, the Ukrainian people. "

The head of state also held a meeting on the operational situation on the front line and in the liberated territories and was updated by the commander of the ground forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Oleksandr Syrsky on the state of the counter-offensive.