In liberated Ukraine town, locals sob with relief, relate harrowing accounts

A local resident carries away a bag from a car distributing humanitarian aid, as Russia's attack on Ukraine continues, in the town of Balakliia, recently liberated by Ukrainian Armed Forces, in Kharkiv region, Ukraine September 13, 2022. REUTERS/Gleb Garanich

BALAKLIIA, Ukraine (Reuters) - The guns had gone quiet after three days of fighting in the battle-scarred northeast Ukrainian town of Balakliia, but Mariya Tymofiyeva said it was only when she saw Ukrainian soldiers that it hit her that over six months of Russian occupation had ended.

"I was walking away... when I saw an armoured personnel carrier coming onto the square with a Ukrainian flag: my heart just tightened up and I began to sob," the 43-year-old resident said, her voice trembling with emotion.