Russian soldiers expecting to be welcomed to Ukraine were soon disabused
Now things are turning nastier
KHERSON IS ABOUT as far up the Dnieper from the Black Sea as Bordeaux is up the Gironde from the Bay of Biscay; its population, 280,000, is a bit larger. It is normally a sleepy, provincial place. On February 24th, though, when Russian tanks rolled out of Crimea, 120km to the south-east, it became a vital objective in Russia’s attempt to take control of a corridor along Ukraine’s entire coast. When, having encountered more resistance than they expected, some of those tanks reached the centre of Kherson on March 1st, Russian state media heralded the fall of the city as the campaign’s first “liberation”.
This article appeared in the Briefing section of the print edition under the headline “Occupation? No thanks!”
From the March 12th 2022 edition
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