The scene following Russian attacks on Kherson
(Picture: Twitter)At least seven people have been killed and 58 wounded after Russian airstrikes on the city centre of Kherson on Christmas Eve, Ukrainian authorities said.
"The enemy was attacking the residential neighborhoods of Kherson city mercilessly all day long, 36 strikes were recorded. Russian shells hit critical infrastructure facilities, kindergartens, a school, a hospital, shops, a factory, private houses, and apartment blocks," Yaroslav Yanushevych, Head of the Kherson Regional Military Administration, posted on Telegram.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky condemned the attacks as an act of “terror.”
“These are not military facilities,” Zelensky wrote on Telegram, adding that the attacks were “killing for the sake of intimidation and pleasure”.
“The world must see what absolute evil we are fighting against,” he added.
It comes after Mr Zelensky warned of a new wave of Russian attacks over Christmas.
In his nightly address on Friday following his return from a trip to the US, the Ukraine president said: “With the holiday season fast approaching, the Russian terrorists could again step up their activities,” he said. “They have no regard for Christian values or any values for that matter.”
Saturday marks 10 months since the start of the Russian invasion.
Ukraine has faced an onslaught of Russian artillery fire, missiles, shelling and drone attacks since early October, much of it targeting 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 city in November.
Earlier on Saturday, the Donetsk regional governor, Pavlo Kyrylenko, said two people had been killed and five wounded in shelling there over the past day.
The deaths were in Kurakhove, a town of about 20,000 which is 18 miles west of the Russian-controlled city of Donetsk.
About 60 shells hit three communities during the night in the area of Nikopol, said 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 governor Oleksander Starukh.
Ukrainian forces had already repelled attacks on at least 17 eastern settlements on Friday.
Ukrainian authorities added that Kremlin forces had launched 12 missile and air strikes, including on civilian targets, away from the front lines in eastern and southeastern Ukraine.
The exiled mayor of Russian-occupied Melitopol in the south said more Russian troops had been brought into the city and were strengthening fortifications in recent days, with residents now only able to leave on foot.
In its daily news briefing on Saturday, the UK’s Ministry of Defence (MoD) said Russia has “likely limited” its long-range missile attacks against Ukrainian infrastructure to about once a week due to the limited availability of cruise missiles.
The ministry added that Russia has bolstered its forces in Ukraine with tens of thousands of reservists since October.
“Despite the easing of its immediate personnel shortages, a shortage of munitions highly likely remains the key limiting factor on Russian offensive operations,” the report said.
