Ceremony Held in Ukraine for Fallen Soldier From Taiwan 烏軍為曾聖光辦告別式 數百民眾參加

A memorial service was held for Taiwanese volunteer soldier Jonathan Tseng in Ukraine on the 14th. Tseng's mother, sister, and wife said goodbye to him along with hundreds of local citizens.

Jonathan Tseng lost his life fighting for Ukraine. On the 14th, a memorial service was held for him in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv with his sister and wife present. Hundreds of local residents gathered to honor Tseng with the ROC and Ukraine flags flying outside. One local who previously lived in Taiwan attended the ceremony wearing a "Team Taiwan" vest.

Ukrainian National: “When we heard what happened, we came over right away to support the family. In this difficult time, they stood with us. I didn't know him, so I didn't say much to the family, but from what I know he came to Ukraine with a strong sense of purpose.”

Tseng was the first ROC national to fight alongside Ukrainian soldiers. The spokesperson of the Ukrainian military said Tseng's remains would be brought back to Taiwan. On the 14th, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky made an unannounced trip to Kherson, where the national flag is flying again for the first time in eight months after Russian troops withdrew from the city. Zelensky said this was the beginning of the end of the war.

Volodymyr Zelensky, President of Ukraine: “Is this the beginning of the end of the war? You now see how strong our army. We are step by step coming to our country to...occupy the territories.”

This was Zelensky's first trip to Kherson since the conflict began. He also said investigators have put together a list of over 400 war crimes committed by Russian troops. Military experts say it will be very difficult for Ukrainian troops to cross the Dnipro River and the next battleground may be the Donetsk Oblast in eastern Ukraine.

台灣志願軍曾聖光的母親，在外交部人員陪同下，來到烏克蘭西部大城利維夫，參加烏國軍方舉辦的告別式，曾聖光的姊姊、妻子都親自出席；有數百位烏克蘭民眾，自發性參加告別式。現場台灣與烏克蘭國旗飄揚，曾經在台灣居住的烏克蘭人，特地穿上台灣隊的背心，來送曾聖光一程。

烏克蘭民眾庫希區表示：「我們一聽說這件事，就來這裡支持這個家庭，在此艱難時刻和他們站在一起。我不認識他，所以沒法講太多，但據我所知，他來到烏克蘭，他對自己在做的事有強烈使命感。」

曾聖光是第一位赴烏參戰陣亡的台灣人，烏軍發言人表示，遺體將運回台灣安葬。大批民眾喊口號歡迎，因為烏克蘭總統澤倫斯基，14日驚喜現身赫爾松。烏軍持續收復失土，赫爾松相隔8個月後，重新升起烏克蘭國旗。澤倫斯基表示，這是戰爭尾聲的開端。

烏克蘭總統澤倫斯基認為：「這是戰爭尾聲的開端嗎？如你所見，我們堅強的軍隊，我們正一步步收復那些被暫時佔領的領土。」

不只澤倫斯基，喜悅之情遍布整座城市，這是開戰後，澤倫斯基首度公開造訪赫爾松。他還指出，調查人員在當地發現超過400件俄軍的戰爭罪行。不過軍事專家分析，烏軍恐怕很難跨越聶伯河這個天然屏障，因此下一個反攻戰場，可能轉換到烏東頓內次克地區。