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Reuters
Reuters
Politics
By Tom Balmforth

Zelenskiy pays surprise visit to recaptured town of Izium in northeast Ukraine

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy sings a national anthem during his visits in the town of Izium, recently liberated by Ukrainian Armed Forces, in Kharkiv region, Ukraine September 14, 2022. REUTERS/Gleb Garanich

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy paid a surprise visit on Wednesday to the newly recaptured town of Izium, a key logistics hub in the northeastern Kharkiv region, and thanked his army for their success in retaking territory from Russian forces.

Thousands of Russian troops fled Izium at the weekend, leaving behind large amounts of ammunition and equipment, in their worst defeat since they were driven back from the outskirts of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv in March.

FILE PHOTO: Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy speaks during a joint news briefing with Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki and Latvian President Egils Levits, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine September 9, 2022. REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko

"It is probably possible to temporarily occupy the territory of our state. But it is definitely impossible to occupy our people, the Ukrainian people," he said at a ceremony where the yellow and blue national flag was raised outside Izium's charred city council.

"Before, when we looked up, we always looked for the blue sky, the sun. And today we, and especially the people in the temporarily occupied territories, looking up, are looking for only one thing - the flag of our state. This means the heroes are here. This means the enemy is gone, they have fled."

Earlier, Ukraine's 25th Separate Airborne Sicheslav Brigade published pictures of Zelenskiy, Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Malyar and military personnel in Izium.

Ukraine's President Zelenskiy sings a national anthem during a flag rising ceremony in the town of Izium recently liberated by the Ukrainian Armed Forces during a counteroffensive operation, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kharkiv region,Ukraine September 14, 2022. Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/Handout via REUTERS

DEVASTATION

Commenting on the devastation he had seen in Izium, Zelenskiy said: "It’s not a shock for me... because we saw the same scenes as in Bucha... The same destroyed buildings and people killed."

Bucha, on the outskirts of Kyiv, was occupied for a short period of time by invading Russian forces. Ukraine and its Western allies have accused the Russian forces of perpetrating war crimes there, something Moscow denies.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy awards a Ukrainian service member, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, near a frontline in Kharkiv region, Ukraine September 14, 2022. Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/Handout via REUTERS

Zelenskiy said he was confident that perpetrators of war crimes would be brought to justice following investigations by Ukrainian and international prosecutors.

"I am sure there will be sentencing, there will be a tribunal - not for one day do I doubt this," he said.

Izium, which had a prewar population of about 50,000, is located on an important highway that runs from Kharkiv, Ukraine's second biggest city, to the eastern city of Sloviansk, that Russian forces have been trying to advance towards.

Zelenskiy said in a late night address on Tuesday that his army had now liberated around 8,000 square km (3,100 square miles) of territory so far this month, though Russia still holds about a fifth of Ukraine.

He has vowed to recapture all Ukrainian territory from Russian forces, including Crimea, the Black Sea peninsula annexed by Moscow in 2014.

"We will come. I don’t know when. Nobody knows when. But we have plans, so we’ll come, because it's our land and our people," he said.

(Writing by Gareth Jones)

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