San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
Russia hammers liberated town, killing at least 10
KYIV, Ukraine — Russian shells pummeled the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson on Saturday, killing at least 10 people and injuring 55 more in the city that Moscow’s forces were forced to abandon last month.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, just back from his quick trip to Washington, posted photos of the wreckage on his social media accounts. He noted the destruction came as Ukrainians were beginning Christmas celebrations that for many Orthodox Christians will culminate in the traditional celebration Jan. 7.
“This is not sensitive content — it’s the real life of Kherson,” Zelenskyy tweeted. The images showed cars on fire, bodies on the street and building windows blown out.
Yaroslav Yanushevych, the governor of the Kherson region, said in televised remarks that at least 10 residents of the city were killed. He added that 55 people were wounded, 18 of them in grave condition.
Saturday marked 10 months since the start of the Russian invasion.
Ukraine has faced a blistering onslaught of Russian artillery fire, missiles, shelling and drone attacks since early October, much of it targeting the nation’s energy infrastructure in a bid to cut electricity and heating services as the freezing winter advances. The shelling has been especially intense in Kherson since Russian forces withdrew and Ukraine’s army reclaimed the southern city in November.
Although the Ukraine government tries to move as fast as it can, it has been practically impossible to restore power for every single person in the country, including the more than 3 million residents of the capital.
There are days when streets in Kyiv’s downtown have light, but the authorities have imposed some restrictions and scheduled power cuts, meaning that there’s no traditional gleaming city during the Christmas season. This year, Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko announced that the annual Christmas tree erected in Sophia Square would be named the Tree of Invincibility.
Earlier Saturday, the Donetsk regional governor, Pavlo Kyrylenko, said two people were killed and five wounded in shelling there over the past day. The deaths were in Kurakhove, a town of about 20,000 that is 18 miles west of Russian-controlled Donetsk city.
About 60 shells in total hit three communities during the night in the area of Nikopol, said the Dnipropetrovsk regional governor, Valentyn Reznichenko.
Stepne, a settlement on the outskirts of Zaporizhzhia, was also hit by shelling but there were no details on casualties, according to the governor, Oleksander Starukh,
Zelenskyy has returned to Kyiv following his trip to Washington, in which he secured a $1.8 billion military aid package.
On Friday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the war would end at the negotiating table once the “special military operation” achieves Russia’s goals. He said no reported Ukrainian peace plan can succeed without taking into account “the realities of today that can’t be ignored” — a reference to Moscow’s demand that Ukraine recognize Russia’s sovereignty over the Crimean Peninsula, which was annexed in 2014, as well as other territorial gains.