Thousands of Ukrainians have taken to the streets in Kherson to protest against the Russian occupation of the city.
Demonstrators waved Ukrainian flags and sang the national anthem while footage shared on social media showed one man climbing on top of a Russian tank with a flag.
#Kherson. Civilians seized armoured vehicle from Russian occupiers and installed Ukrainian flag on top of it. Nobody can break the Ukrainian spirit!
— Emine Dzheppar (@EmineDzheppar) March 5, 2022
Glory to the 🇺🇦 heroes! pic.twitter.com/OCcJ7v20TS
Around 2,000 people are reported to have taken to the streets in the port city, the biggest city captured by the invading Russians, to chant slogans including ‘Kherson is Ukraine’ and ‘Russians go home’.
Residents have told reporters Russian soldiers are searching people for evidence they are helping Ukrainian forces and have a list of local people they want to arrest.
The protests come as a UK Government minister warned the Russian invasion showed little signs of weakening.
John Glen, Economic Secretary to the Treasury, said while the ceasefire announced on Saturday morning was welcome, “Putin’s aggression shows little signs of abating”.
According to the Russian Tass news agency, the country’s defence ministry said it had agreed on evacuation routes for civilians with Ukrainian forces in Mariupol in the south east and the eastern town of Volnovakha.
There was no immediate confirmation from Ukrainian forces, but reports suggested the ceasefire had not been upheld in Mariupol.
Mr Glen, whose Salisbury constituency was hit by the Russian-backed Novichok attack four years ago, said that “anything that can assist the people of Ukraine the Government will support”.
“But (the) big picture is that Putin’s aggression shows little signs of abating and the humanitarian crises that are unfolding are appalling and they are entirely his responsibility,” he said.
“The number of cities that are apparently under threat remain high and the level of the aggression and the nature of the shelling is becoming more and more desperate and indiscriminate as each day goes by.”
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has again called on Nato to impose a no-fly zone over his country, warning “all the people who die from this day forward will also die because of you”.
But the defensive alliance has refused to do so, over fears it would prompt an all-out war with nuclear-armed Russia.
