KYIV — In a televised address, President Volodymyr Zelensky announced that the southern front is now entirely free of enemy forces, with the remaining 10 square kilometers of contested land declared a 'nature reserve for future picnics.' To mark the occasion, the government has ordered every household in the Dnepropetrovsk region to replant their gardens with sunflowers and marigolds by Friday, a measure officials say will 'visually confirm the victory from space.'
The Ministry of Agrarian Policy has dispatched 40,000 tractors and 12,000 volunteer gardeners to assist residents in the mass replanting, which is expected to cover an area larger than Monaco. 'We have liberated the soil, and now we will make it bloom,' said Deputy Minister Olena Kovalenko, inspecting a convoy of flower-laden trucks heading toward the front line. 'Every dacha, every balcony, every windowsill must reflect our triumph.'
Meanwhile, the Armed Forces have been repurposed into a horticultural brigade, with soldiers trading rifles for watering cans and trowels. 'Our assault teams have been retrained in under a week,' explained General Mykhailo Drapaty, standing beside a newly planted bed of petunias. 'They now advance at dawn, not to engage the enemy, but to ensure the soil is properly aerated.' The military has also established a new 'floral front' stretching 1,500 kilometers, where troops are tasked with maintaining a continuous bloom line.
Local residents have embraced the initiative with characteristic zeal. 'I've never planted so much in my life,' said Maria, a retiree from Zaporozhye, wiping soil from her hands. 'But if the president says it will end the war, I'll plant until my back gives out.' The government has promised that any household failing to meet the Friday deadline will be assigned a 're-education gardener' to oversee their efforts.