Kherson on new front line as Russians start bombing

Fight continues in newly liberated city as residents are urged to flee to safety before winter sets in

RUSSIA began shelling newly liberated Kherson as the Ukrainian government moved to evacuate residents ahead of a winter without water or power.

Ten days after Russian forces withdrew from the city in a major defeat for Vladimir Putin, the streets yesterday echoed to shell blasts as Ukrainian and Russian forces traded artillery fire across the Dnipro river.

The Daily Telegraph saw one badly injured resident sprawled on his front on a grass verge in the centre of the city, as medics put tourniquets on his shredded legs and his blood soaked into the fallen autumn leaves.

A few hundred yards away onlookers said three other residents had been badly wounded minutes earlier, with one woman losing a leg.

Authorities at the city’s central hospital reported several wounded throughout the day, but refused to give numbers, saying it was sensitive information. A cleaner mopped up blood next to a man with a bandaged head, who said he had been hit by shrapnel.

The rapid withdrawal of Russian forces from swathes of the Kherson region earlier this month meant the city had largely been spared the heavy shelling seen on some other fronts.

Yet with Russian forces now a few hundred yards away on the left bank of the river, there are fears that the city may face more intense bombardment unless the Ukrainian forces can somehow force the invaders’ guns back.

“Kherson has dealt with occupation, now it must learn to become used to shelling,” predicted the commander of a volunteer battalion fighting in the region, who gave his name as Eduard.

“Artillery duels continue, the fight continues,” added Dmytro Pletentchuk, spokesman for the Ukrainian military in the area.

“Kherson is now on the front line.” Volodymyr Yatsuta, a resident of one of the city’s eastern suburbs, was recounting how he had heard tortured screams coming from a detention centre used by Russian forces, when a crash of explosions interrupted his account.

“This is now the fifth day of shelling,” the 37-year-old said while crouching on the floor of a coffee kiosk, waiting to see if more blasts would follow.

Russian forces have also continued intense shelling in eastern Ukraine, with the country’s president saying intense fighting continues despite the onset of winter.

Volodymyr Zelensky said there had been 400 shelling incidents in the battlefields of Donetsk on Sunday alone.

Kherson’s electricity and power supplies have been cut off for more than a fortnight, leaving authorities trying to improve the situation before winter temperatures drop well below freezing.

Yesterday Ukraine started evacuating civilians from Kherson and neighbouring

‘Kherson has dealt with occupation, now it must learn to become used to shelling’

Mykolaiv amid fears residents will not be able to brave the upcoming winter months.

Iryna Vereshchuk, deputy prime minister, said Kyiv would provide “transportation, accommodation, medical care” to those willing to move to safer parts of the country.

For those unwilling to leave their homes, the authorities signalled they deliver generators, fuel and firewood to help people survive the bitter winter.

Yesterday, Russian-installed authorities in the remnants of occupied Kherson region also urged residents to evacuate an area on the eastern bank of the Dnipro river that Moscow now controls. Officials said there was heavy fighting in the Kakhovskiy district.

Amid the shelling in Kherson, Ukraine’s police and prosecutors continued to look for evidence of war crimes during the occupation.

Kyiv accused Moscow of operating a network of at least four torture sites in the city.