Russian missiles rained down on the recently liberated city of Kherson for the second day Friday, killing at least 10 people and injuring dozens more as Moscow’s forces escalated attacks on Ukraine’s battered power grid in a bid to freeze Kyiv into submission.
The Ukrainian governor of Kherson, Yaroslav Yanushevych, said Friday that two neighborhoods in the regional capital came “under massive artillery fire,” leaving more than five dozen civilians killed or maimed in the last 48 hours.
Among the dead was 62-year-old Natalia Kristenko and her husband, who were killed by a missile strike as they stepped out of their home Thursday evening. The woman died instantly from a head wound, while her 66-year-old husband died hours later from internal bleeding.
“Russians took the two most precious people from me,” their daughter, Lilia Kristenko, 38, said as she watched her mother’s body covered with a blanket being finally taken to a morgue Friday.
A fire burns after a Russian strike in the Kherson shipyards on Thursday. Getty Images
The barrage of Russian missiles that rained on Kherson Thursday into Friday killed at least 10 people and wounded dozens more. A resident hurt in the attack is seen lying inside an ambulance. AP
Residents check the damage of a shop destroyed a day earlier during a Russian attack in Kherson Friday. APAt least 54 people were injured in the strikes that hit residential and commercial buildings, lighting some on fire, blowing ash into the air and littering the streets with shattered glass.
The barrage marked an escalation of attacks since Russia withdrew from the city two weeks ago following an eight-month occupation.
It comes as Russia has stepped up bombardment of Ukraine’s power grid and other critical civilian infrastructure in a bid to tighten the screw on Kyiv. Officials estimate that around 50% of Ukraine’s energy facilities have been damaged in the recent strikes.
The attacks ravaged some residential neighborhoods not previously hit in the war that has just entered its tenth month.
Soldiers in the region had warned that Kherson would face intensified strikes as Russian troops dig in across the Dnieper River after being forced to retreat from the city two weeks ago.
Viktor Anastasiev’s wife cries near her wounded husband after Kherson was pounded by missiles in Kherson in a marked escalation after the Russians’ retreat from the city. AP
A Ukrainian paramedic helps an injured resident moments after a Russian strike. APOn Friday morning people sifted through what little remained of their destroyed houses and shops. Containers of food lined the floor of a shattered meat store, while across the street customers lined up at a coffee shop where residents said four people died the night before.
“I don’t even know what to say, it was unexpected,” said Diana Samsonova, who works at the coffee shop, which remained open throughout Russia’s occupation and has no plans to close despite the attacks.
Kherson’s population has dwindled to around 80,000 from its prewar level near 300,000. The government has said it will help people evacuate if they want to, but many say they have no place to go.
Meanwhile, millions of Ukrainians were without heat or power Friday after the most devastating Russian air strikes on its energy grid so far, with residents warned to brace for further attacks and stock up on water, food and warm clothing as temperatures dipped below zero.
Moscow says the attacks on Ukraine’s infrastructure are militarily legitimate, and that Kyiv can end the suffering of its people if it yields to Russian demands. Ukraine says attacks intended to cause civilian misery are acts of terrorism and a war crime.
Millions of Ukrainians were without power, water or heat after Russian airstrikes targeting the country’s infrastructure. Global Images Ukraine via Getty
Ukrainians were urged to stock up on water and warm clothing as temperatures dipped below zero. Anadolu Agency via Getty Images“Together we endured nine months of full-scale war and Russia has not found a way to break us, and will not find one,” President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a video address overnight.
Russia has been pummeling Ukraine’s power grid far from the frontlines with barrages of long-range missiles around once a week since early October.
Attacks Wednesday caused the worst damage to date. Officials estimate that around 50% of Ukraine’s energy facilities have been damaged in the recent strikes.
In the wake of the deadly salvos, national grid operator Ukrenergo said the power system was still 30% short of meeting demand.
A resident walks amid debris after a Russian attack in Kherson. AP
The attacks in Kherson destroyed some neighborhoods not previously hit in the war. AP“Priority was given to critical infrastructure facilities in all regions: boiler houses, gas distribution stations, water supply, sewage treatment facilities, public electric transport operates in some regions,” it said.
Nigel Povoas, lead prosecutor with a team of international experts assisting Ukrainian war crimes investigators, said the strikes were “focused on eliminating infrastructure crucial to means of civilian survival such as heat, water, power and medical facilities.”
“Each wave of attacks tends to reinforce the strength of the allegations of grave criminality being leveled against the Kremlin. That these attacks have very little, if anything, to do with military objectives,” he said.
With Post wires
