THE Ukrainian port of Kherson was the first major city to be captured by Vladimir Putin.

       But in the past 48 hours home forces have launched a heroic retaliation that symbolises the spirit of their nation.

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       Kherson airbase after an alleged airstrike against Russian forces occupying the base Credit: AFP 3

       Demonstrators in Kherson Russian troops throw stun grenades as they protest Credit: Reuters

       And Markian Lubkivskyi, an adviser to the Ukrainian defence minister, said yesterday: “I believe that today the city will be fully under the control of Ukrainian armed forces.

       “We have finished the operation in the Kyiv region so other armed forces are now focused on the southern part, trying to free Kherson and some other Ukrainian cities.”

       Kherson fell to the Russians on March 2 but its people have been protesting daily in the city’s central Liberty Square.

       On Monday, a student in her early 20s was there amid a peaceful protest when a stun grenade exploded and there was gunfire.

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       Capturing it on video, she said: “Residents had been chanting, ‘Go home’.

       “People fled. There were clouds of smoke,

       “I found it difficult to breathe and ran for my life.” A video obtained by CNN later showed a pensioner bleeding from a leg wound.

       But a second resident said the protesters were back to confront the Russians the next day.

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       Videos showed Russian forces responding with tear gas -grenades and warning shots.

       Meanwhile a leaked letter from an FSB spy agency whistleblower has claimed the residents’ defiance will lead to them being kidnapped and taken into Russia.

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       Brave Nadya, a shop worker also in her 20s, told me: “I’m not leaving. We are strong -people and we’re becoming stronger. I’m staying here to show Kherson is Ukrainian.”

       The courageous women — like their city — remain unbowed.

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       Markian Lubkivskyi, an adviser to the Ukrainian defence minister, said: 'I believe that today the city will be fully under the control of Ukrainian armed forces'

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