The Ukrainian president on Monday paid a visit to the liberated city of Kherson, just days after it was retaken from Moscow's forces.

The end of the eight-month Russian occupation of Kherson has sparked celebration, but also exposed a humanitarian emergency. Many residents are living without power and water and there are shortages of food and medicines.

President Volodymyr Zelensky was photographed Monday posing with troops in a central Kherson square.

"We are moving forward," Zelensky said in an address to his forces, also thanking NATO and other allies for supporting his country in the war against Russia.

"We are ready for peace, peace for all our country."

"I'm really happy, you can tell by the reaction of the people, their reaction is not staged," the president said. He later sang the national anthem as the flag was raised above the city's main administration building in downtown Kherson.

Nearby shelling could be heard from the center of Kherson could be heard minutes before Zelesky arrived, with artillery blasts echoing after he finished speaking.

Ukrainian forces entered the city, the Kherson region's administrative center, on Friday after Russia pulled back its troops.

UK predicts winter challenges for both sides

The UK Ministry of Defence has given its prediction for how winter will alter conflict conditions for both Russian and Ukrainian forces.

It said changes to daylight hours, as well as temperature and weather, would present challenges for both sides.

"Any decisions that the Russian General Staff make will be in part informed by the onset of winter," the ministry said.

It noted that daylight will reduce to fewer than 9 hours a day, compared to 15-16 in mid-summer. As a result, the ministry expected fewer offensives and more static defensive frontlines, and a greater reliance on night vision capability.

It is predicted that the average high temperature will drop from 13 degrees Celsius through September to November, to zero through December to February.

"Forces lacking in winter weather clothing and accommodation are highly likely to suffer from non-freezing cold injuries," the ministry said.

An increase in rainfall, wind speed and snow was expected to pose additional challenges to the already low morale of Russian forces, as well as kit maintenance.

EU to launch military training mission for Ukraine

European Union foreign ministers are meeting in Brussels to launch a training mission for Ukraine's armed forces.

The bloc's top diplomat Josep Borrell said some 15,000 Ukrainian soldiers were to receive training in Poland. Multiple countries are willing to take part, he said upon arriving at the meeting.

Germany's military, the Bundeswehr, is planning combat training and tactics exercises for up to 5,000 Ukrainian soldiers.

The ministers will also discuss Belarus and Iran's support to Russia during the ongoing war.

Although there is no evidence of direct involvement of the Belarusian army, Minsk's "level of engagement" with the conflict was said to concern the EU.

The EU recently sanctioned Tehran because of its supply of Iranian-made drones to Russia for use in strikes on Ukraine.

New Zealand on Monday also said it would send an extra 66 personnel to the United Kingdom to help train Ukrainian soldiers.

Ukraine alleges hundreds of Russian atrocities in Kherson

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his regular nightly address on Sunday that investigators working in the southern Kherson region had uncovered more than 400 "war crimes" committed by Russian troops.

Moscow's withdrawal from Kherson city represents a major setback for Russia as it was the only regional capital it had captured since the beginning of its invasion of Ukraine in February.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) is currently probing potential war crimes conducted by Russian forces in Ukraine.

More on the war in Ukraine

Russia's withdrawal from Kherson paves the way to the liberation of the rest of the region. It is the gateway to the Crimean Peninsula, which Russia annexed in 2014.

British artist Banksy appears to have confirmed he is in Ukraine by posting an image of a gymnast on a war-damaged house to his Instagram page. Speculation had already been rife after several murals in his style popped up near the capital, Kyiv.