At least five people were killed and 35 others were injured on Saturday (December 24) by a Russian missile strike in the Ukrainian city of Kherson, according to presidential aide Kyrylo Tymoshenko. Of those injured, 16 were heavily wounded, Tymoshenko said, according to a report by Reuters.
Taking to Telegram, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky condemned the attack and shared pictures of the shelling. “Social networks will most likely mark these photos as ‘sensitive content’. But this is not sensitive content – it is the real life of Ukraine and Ukrainians,” Zelensky said.
“These are not military facilities … It is terror, it is killing for the sake of intimidation and pleasure,” the President added.
Russia had occupied Kherson shortly after it began its special military operation in Ukraine in February this year. In November, Ukrainian forces recaptured the city in a significant military defeat for Moscow.
However, Kherson has been struck by Russian forces multiple times.
Saturday’s attack comes more than a week after two people, including a Red Cross worker, were killed in Russian shelling in the city on December 15. Regional governor Yaroslav Yanushevych said the attack left Kherson completely without power. President Zelensky had said that Moscow bombed the city more than 16 times on this day.
More than 11,000 people have left Kherson since it was recaptured in November and most of them had been evacuated by the government, according to the ministry that was responsible for reintegrating the city. During Russia’s control, regional officials estimated that 100,000 residents were in Kherson, AFP reported last week.
The war in Ukraine has entered the 10th month with no possible end to Russia’s aggression. On Friday, Russian President Vladimir Putin told the defence industry to up its game to ensure that the army got all the weapons, equipment and military hardware that it needed to fight.
“The most important key task of our military-industrial complex is to provide our units and frontline forces with everything they need: weapons, equipment, ammunition, and gear in the necessary quantities and of the right quality in the shortest possible timeframes,” Putin said.
(With inputs from agencies)
