Ukraine's Zelenskyy defiant as Russia retreats from Kharkiv

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy vowed to one day host the song contest in the embattled city of Mariupol.

Fresh off his country's Eurovision win, a defiant Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy vowed early Sunday to one day host the song contest in the embattled city of Mariupol, which is almost entirely in Russian hands aside from a stalwart group of a few hundred Ukrainian fighters who continue to hold out in a steel factory.

Ukraine's Kalush Orchestra won the popular contest with its song “Stefania”, which has become a popular anthem among Ukrainians during the war, and its victory was a morale booster.

“Our courage impresses the world, our music conquers Europe,” Zelenskyy said on Facebook. “Next year, Ukraine will host Eurovision!”

The band made an impassioned plea during the show to help the fighters still in the Azovstal steel plant in the port city, and Zelenskyy said “one day” the contest would be held “in a Ukrainian Mariupol”.

The president's optimistic words come as Russian troops are retreating from Kharkiv, the country's second-largest city, after bombarding it for weeks, and Moscow's forces continue to engaged in a grinding battle for the country's eastern industrial heartland.

Ukraine's military said the Russian forces are now pulling back from the northeastern city to focus on guarding supply routes, while launching mortar, artillery and airstrikes in the eastern region of Donetsk in an attempt to “deplete Ukrainian forces and destroy fortifications.”