Ukrainians welcome spring, say they survived Putin’s ‘winter terror’

Red berries are seen on the branches of a tree in the yard of a home damaged in the eastern Ukrainian city of Lyman on March 1, 2023. Ukrainians mark the first day of Spring today. (Heidi Levine for The Washington Post).

Ukrainians are marking their first day of spring on social media, sharing photos of fresh buds and blooms and acknowledging that they have survived a brutal winter of war.

Dmytro Kuleba, Ukraine’s foreign minister, said Wednesday that March 1 — which is considered the first day of spring in Ukraine — symbolized “another major defeat” for Russian President Vladimir Putin, who failed to use the winter season to weaponize energy and win the war in Ukraine.