MYKOLAIV, Ukraine — In the suburbs of this battered port city in southern Ukraine — once the shipbuilding hub of the country — the Ukrainian military has begun a counteroffensive to liberate the Black Sea coast from Russian occupation.
But Moscow’s war to seize land is also a war against civilians, a deliberate attempt to destroy civilian infrastructure and terrorize the population. Vladimir Putin’s grotesque claims that the Russian army doesn’t strike civilian infrastructure are contradicted by the endless shelling of residential neighborhoods.
On Friday, the day before I arrived in Mykolaiv, Russia carried out a typical attack — on a bus stop and a bread line. At 9:30 a.m., Russians artillery fired cluster munitions from miles away at the bus shelter, which is located next to a small square where an aid group was distributing bread. Seven civilians were killed and 17 injured.
