The flag of freedom is flying over Kherson as Ukrainian troops were given a hero's welcome.
It came after Russia released its final foothold on the major city on Friday and paved the way for victorious Ukrainian forces to reclaim the its only Russian-held provincial capital.
The abandonment of the city by Russian troops also could act as a springboard for further advances into occupied territory.
Russia's Defense Ministry said its troops finished withdrawing from the western bank of the river dividing Ukraine's Kherson region at 5am.
The area they left included the city of Kherson, the only provincial capital Russia had captured during its nearly nine-month invasion of Ukraine.
Videos and photos on social media showed residents jubilantly taking to the streets and a Ukrainian flag flying over a monument in a central Kherson square after the city was seized by Russian forces in early March.
Some footage showed crowds cheering on men in military uniform.
Ukrainian officials have not confirmed the city is back in Ukrainian hands.
A spokesperson for Ukraine's military intelligence agency said "an operation to liberate Kherson" and the surrounding region of the same name was underway.
Andriy Yusov said. "It will be possible to talk about establishing Ukrainian control over the city only after an official report by the General Staff" of the Ukrainian army.
Ukrainian intelligence urged Russian soldiers still be in the city to surrender in anticipation of Ukrainian forces arriving.
It said: "Your command left you to the mercy of fate.
"Your commanders urge you to change into civilian clothes and try to escape from Kherson on your own. Obviously, you won't be able to."
Ukrainian regional official, Serhii Khlan, disputed the Russian Defense Ministry's claim that 30,000 retreating troops took all 5,000 pieces of equipment with them, saying "a lot" of hardware was left behind.
The final Russian withdrawal came six weeks after Vladimir Putin illegally annexed the region and three other Ukrainian provinces, vowing they would remain Russian forever.
Moscow's forces still control about 70% of the Kherson region following the pullback ordered amid a Ukrainian counteroffensive.
The Kremlin insisted the withdrawal in no way represented an embarrassment for Putin.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters Moscow continued to view the entire Kherson region as part of Russia.
The Kremlin he said doesn't regret holding festivities just over a month ago to celebrate the annexation of occupied or partially occupied regions of Ukraine.
Before the Russian announcement, Volodymyr Zelensky's office described the situation in the province as "difficult."
It reported shelling of some villages and towns which Ukraine had reclaimed during their counteroffensive in the Kherson region.
The General Staff of Ukraine's army said Russian forces looted homes, damaged power lines and mined roads in their wake.
Mykhailo Podolyak, Ukrainian presidential adviser, predicted Russians would try to turn Kherson into a "city of death" and continue to shell it after relocating across the Dnieper River.
Ukrainian officials were wary of the Russian pullback, fearing their soldiers could get drawn into an ambush in Kherson city, which had a prewar population of 280,000.
It also predicted Russia's military would take at least a week to complete the troop withdrawal.
Zelensky thanked US military personnel on Veterans Day and said in a video message "victory will be ours."
He said: "Your example inspires Ukrainians today to fight back against Russian tyranny.
"Special thanks to the many American veterans who have volunteered to fight in Ukraine and to the American people for the amazing support you have given Ukraine.
"With your help, we have stunned the world and are pushing Russian forces back."
But some quarters of the Ukrainian government barely disguised their glee at the pace of the Russian withdrawal.
"The Russian army leaves the battlefields in a triathlon mode: steeplechase, broad jumping, swimming," Andriy Yermak, a senior presidential adviser, tweeted.
Social media videos showed villagers hugging Ukrainian troops across the region.
Gen. Ben Hodges, former commanding general of US. Army forces in Europe, described the retreat from Kherson as a "colossal failure" for Russia, and said he expects Ukrainian commanders will keep the pressure on Russia's forces ahead of a possibl push for Crimea next year.
"It's too early to be planning the victory parade, for sure.
"But I would expect by the end of this year - so in the next, let's say, eight weeks - the Ukrainians are going to be in place to start setting the conditions for the decisive phase of this campaign, which is the liberation of Crimea, which I think will happen by the summer."
