Protests have broken out against Russian occupation in the port city of Kherson, the only major city in Ukraine seized by invading forces thus far in the war.
Thousands of people marched in Kherson on Saturday, according to posts on Twitter and media reports, with demonstrators young and old seen waving Ukrainian flags, singing the national anthem, and chanting slogans like “Russians go home.”
Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba shared a video of the protesters on Twitter, saying that their bravery in the face of armed Russian invaders was an inspiration for the rest of the world.
“Thousands of peaceful Ukrainians protest Russian occupation in front of armed Russian soldiers. What a spirit. I call on everyone around the globe: express your support for the fearless Ukrainians in Kherson!” he wrote.
Gunfire rang out at one point as Russian soldiers tried to get the crowd to move aside, but the brave protesters refused to budge.
Gunfire rang out repeatedly as she spoke but the crowd around her held its ground.
“Every night we hear about six or 10 explosions. It sounds like mortars. We don’t know who is bombing whom,” he told the outlet.
“We are trying not to go outside because Russian troops are stopping cars, checking what is in the cars. They are even checking phones, searching for evidence of helping the Ukrainian army,” he added.
“The Russian army doesn’t want to fight,” he said. “Russian elite units are probably going to continue to fight, they’re motivated, but the regular army, its mechanized infantry units, they don’t want to fight anymore.”
“It’s not even a loss of morale—they’ve just lost the will to fight and kill civilians. They’ve been given orders to shoot civilians, open fire on civilians, they’re allowed to loot shops and commit acts of rape—but this army has simply lost its desire to stay in the fight.”
“They don’t see any point,” he continued, suggesting that the regular Russian army units view this campaign as “brutal and cruel” and they see the Ukrainians as people much like themselves.
