Russian forces are trying to capture several towns in southern Ukraine, on the Azov and Black Sea coasts, but they are encountering strong resistance from the population.
With our correspondent in Kiev, Stéphane Siohan
This Saturday morning, March 5, several hundred people gathered in the center of Kherson, the first major regional capital captured by Russian armed forces. They faced armed Russian soldiers. Their slogans: Kherson is Ukraine », « Go home “. And to shout at the Russian soldiers that they were fascists.
Protesters carried dozens of blue and yellow flags. Others wrapped Ukrainian flags around their shoulders as soldiers fired into the air in an attempt to disperse the crowd.
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Often Russian-speaking populations against the occupation
Several demonstrations of this type took place in the southern part of the country: this Saturday, residents of Melitopol, near the Sea of Azov, began to march towards the Russian soldiers.
Throughout the country, there are cases of local populations, often Russian-speaking, who refuse the Russian occupation. In these localities, the Russians try to install a civil and military administration. But in the medium term, they risk having great difficulty controlling towns where part of the population is hostile to them.
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