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Ukrainian President Zelensky visited southern Kherson, which was restored in about eight months, and said that the restoration of Kherson was the beginning of the end of the war.
Russia has reduced the meaning of the Kherson region, saying it is still its territory.
Kwak Sang-eun is a correspondent in Paris.
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President Zelensky paid a surprise visit to Kherson, the capital of Khersonism, which Ukraine recently restored.
President Zelensky encouraged the Ukrainian army and emphasized that the Kherson recovery is the end, the 'beginning' of the end.
He sang the national anthem with soldiers and residents, and thanked his allies for their support.
[Zelensky/President of Ukraine: I am glad to be in Kherson.
You can see the people cheering.
My feelings are the same.]
Citizens poured out on the streets, sang songs of joy and warmly welcomed the returned soldiers.
[Andriy / Kherson citizens: There is no electricity, water, internet, communication, heating, but the most important thing is that there are no Russian troops.
So I have to be happy.]
Kherson is the capital of Kherson, a strategic point connecting the Crimean Peninsula, forcibly annexed by Russia in 2014, and Eastern Donbas, which is occupied by pro-Russian separatist forces.
Ukraine recaptured the area on the 11th at the same time as the Russian army retreated.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said he would not comment on Zelensky's visit to Kherson, but said the region was still part of the Russian Federation.
Russia had previously announced that it would withdraw from Kherson and make Henichesk, 177 kilometers to the east, the new capital of Kherson.