The city of Kherson was evacuated by the Russian army. But the city continues to be the target of shelling from Moscow’s troops. At least seven people die and dozens are injured in another attack. President Selenskyj finds clear words for this.
Russian shelling in the center of the Ukrainian city of Cherson killed seven people and wounded 58, according to the presidential administration in Kyiv. Among them were 18 seriously injured, said the deputy chief of the Presidential Office in Kyiv, Kyrylo Tymoshenko. He had previously spoken of five dead and 20 injured. Tymoshenko published photos of lifeless people in the center of the city, which had recently been liberated from Russian occupation, on his Telegram news service channel.
According to Ukrainian sources, Russian troops are still shelling the city from other parts of the occupied Kherson region. Most of the area is still controlled by Russian troops. Russia had annexed the Cherson region.
“The Russians have committed terror again and shelled the city center,” Tymoshenko said. “People have died, buildings have been destroyed.” Because of the weekend, many people were on the streets.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj condemned the attack as another crime by the “terror state” Russia just before Christmas. The photos of the dead would certainly be flagged by social networks because of the content. “But this is not sensitive content, this is real life of Ukraine and Ukrainians,” he said.
There are no military targets there, stressed Zelenskyy. This isn’t a war. “This is terror, this is killing for the sake of intimidation and pleasure,” he said. “The world needs to see and understand the absolute evil we are fighting,” he said.
Ukrainian troops took the city of Cherson in the fall after the Russian forces withdrew. The Russian occupiers retreated to the other side of the Dnipro River. The Kremlin had stressed that Russia considers the entire Kherson region as its territory and will not give up.