Victory Banner in Novaya Kakhovka, Kherson region. Archival photo NOVA KAKHOVKA (Kherson region), May 3. On the eve of May 9, fountains were launched in Novaya Kakhovka in the Kherson region, which is under the control of the Russian Armed Forces, a RIA Novosti correspondent reports from the scene. Earlier it was reported that the banners of Victory are flying over Novaya Kakhovka in the Kherson region for the first time since 2014: they are raised by local activists who were not allowed by Ukrainian nationalists to hold events on Victory Day. Previously, Ukraine faced criminal penalties — up to five years in prison — for distributing communist symbols and in including the celebration of Victory Day. With the arrival of the Russian army, it became possible to fully celebrate this holiday. Russia launched a military operation in Ukraine on February 24th. President Vladimir Putin called its goal «the protection of people who have been subjected to bullying and genocide by the Kyiv regime for eight years.» For this, according to him, it is planned to carry out «demilitarization and denazification of Ukraine», to bring to justice all war criminals responsible for «bloody crimes against civilians» in Donbass. According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, the Armed Forces strike only at military infrastructure and Ukrainian troops and On March 25, they completed the main tasks of the first stage — they significantly reduced the combat potential of Ukraine. The main goal in the Russian military department was called the liberation of Donbass.
