Freedom at last: Kherson - where there was fear now happiness is felt

Where last week there was deep fear, now joy is felt at every turn.

And it can be seen on the faces of everyone in Kherson, regardless of the fact that there is no electricity, no water, and the signal coverage for mobile telephony is low. There is a lack of food and medicine. It is clear that life in this city, which Ukraine recently liberated from Russian forces, will be difficult in the coming weeks, because winter is coming, and Russia has left destroyed key infrastructure and mines around the city.

But at least hope and happiness have returned, which will be more than enough for now, writes the Associated Press (AP).

"Finally freedom," said 61-year-old Tetjana Hitina, one of those who did not leave Kherson even when it was the hardest.

"The city was dead," she added as she and her husband Yevhen finally carried the Ukrainian flag through the city without fear.

They stop to ask for the autograph of the Ukrainian soldiers who freed them.

"They fought for us. We knew we were not alone," said Yevgen.

Kherson was the only capital of one of the Ukrainian regions that Russia has captured since it began its invasion of the country. It was a significant - but as it turned out only temporary - prize for Moscow, due to the city's port and Kherson's strategic location on the Dnieper River in southern Ukraine.

The broad waters of the Dnieper now separate Ukrainian troops and Russian occupiers who abandoned the city and fled to the east bank of the river last week in the wake of the Ukrainian advance.

The struggles here, however, are far from over.

Russian troops on the other side of the coast are preparing for the next Ukrainian move. Along with the sounds of joy of Ukrainians, for the third day in a row in the main square of Kherson, artillery fire can be heard in the distance. About 70 percent of the Kherson region is still in Russian hands.

The roads leading to Kherson bear witness to how fierce the fighting was - the war and its destruction did not leave a single house untouched. And in such an environment, a surprising sight - children jumped out of dilapidated homes to wave at the cars passing through their village, which until recently was a war zone.

Now, finally, free residents of Kherson can tell dark stories about life under Moscow's rule, and they worry most about friends and acquaintances who were transported across the Dnieper and on buses to territory still held by Russia.

"In the last days before they finished withdrawing, the Russian troops were getting more and more nervous," said 24-year-old Karina Zaikina.

"It was clear that they were scared, because they all walked only in groups," she added.

Now, as she says, for the first time she was not afraid to walk around the city...

"Today I woke up calm - for the first time in many months," said Karina.

In scenes reminiscent of European cities liberated by Allied forces in World War II, Kherson residents gathered in the city's central square, car horns blaring, dancing, crying and hugging. In one place, two people who were alleged to have collaborated with the Russians were tied with their hands behind their backs.

Billboards put up by former Russian-backed city administrators still stand. But surely, not for long, adds AP.

Their now outdated message is - "Russia is here forever".