Residents from Ponyativka with soldiers. Photo: Supplied
A former New Zealand soldier fighting on the front line in Ukraine says he was brought to tears after his unit liberated three towns.
Russia withdrew 30,000 troops from Kherson on Saturday after nine months of occupation.
The New Zealander formerly worked with a group called the Dark Angels and was now in the 131st Separate Reconnaissance Battalion of the Ukrainian Military.
He said experiencing the retreat by Russia was one of the most surreal experiences he'd had in Ukraine.
"Obviously, November 11, already is one of those dates that is super important to every veteran and people in general due to it being Remembrance Day.
"And now for me, and for those of us on the ground here, it's going to be etched into our memories forever, because it's the day that we liberated Kherson."
The soldier said almost overnight the entire layout of the front line changed.
"We started our mission the other day, near a tree line, where only a week and a half prior, we had been on a mission and we've been contacted quite heavily; we'd had grenades launched at us, we took contact from a sniper, and heavy machine gun fire, which had our faces in the dirt."
The next time they visited the same spot, it was abandoned, and it looked like the previous occupants had left in a hurry.
The soldier said people had left toothbrushes and toothpaste, broken and new weapons, uniforms and anti-aircraft missiles.
"Then there was a lonely Russian flag on the hill, so we went and cut that down."
A Russian flag is taken down Photo: Supplied
"The enemy that had sort of been in place for months and months and months, was all of a sudden gone.
"It wasn't just that tree line. It was a village over from that, and the village behind that."
In the days following, the soldier and his unit - named ICE - drove for two hours across reclaimed land to the new front line.
It's land he said would have taken months of 2023 to fight for.
"So, it's quite surreal; within two days, they're all just gone."
Over the weekend, his unit liberated three towns.
He said every time they arrived in a village they expected a fight, but none came.
When they arrived at the first village, he said they were cautiously waiting to be attacked by Russians but were able to ask locals if there were any "bad guys" in the area. There weren't.
"A woman came out. She was bawling her eyes out ... they just couldn't believe it. You know, [she was] just so happy to see the yellow armbands, [to] recognise us as friendlies.
"They haven't seen us in nine months. It was amazing. One of them goes running up the street, banging on all the doors, telling all of the people to come out in the village just saying, 'our guys are here, our guys are here!'"
The soldier said there was pure relief across the people's faces.
It was a similar story in the next two villages, the last of which sat alongside the Dnipro river.
"Honestly, I didn't know what to expect. None of us did ... it's unreal.
"Having all these people come up to me ... some of them are obviously religious people, and they're blessing us. Some of them just want to hold you and hug you.
"They were all crying, and I'd be a liar if I said our guys weren't all choked up as well."
"It's just an incredibly moving moment to see how grateful these people are to see friendly faces, and relief because they know they're safe.
"They know we're back and we're not going away this time."
