Ukrainian officials said that Russian forces are shelling “all settlements” along the west bank of the Dnipro River in the southern Kherson region, including recently liberated territory.
Serhii Khlan, a member of the Kherson regional council, told a news conference that “the occupiers continue shelling both the city of Kherson and the west-bank part of Kherson region.”
“They are shelling absolutely all settlements located along the Dnipro River coast,” he said.
He said there had been no casualties Tuesday, but Russian forces continue to strike at vital infrastructure.
“Power company crews are working to fully restore power supply to Kherson city. Critical infrastructure is supplied, but not all of it. Hospitals have received electricity supply,” he said.
“Unfortunately, it is not yet possible to fully supply water,” Khlan said. “The Internet began to appear — not throughout the city — but in some areas. Now we can talk about 20% of connected consumers in Kherson.”
Khlan said that only a quarter of Kherson city’s pre-war population of 320,000 remains — and more were leaving every day because of the shelling and lack of utilities. Additional carriages were being added to a daily evacuation train, and evacuation by bus routes continued, he added.
“People are gradually leaving. So far, people are not returning to the city en masse. There are cases when people come to check their homes and return back to the regions where they are now. So far, a small number of people have left … but there are many people who want to leave,” Khlan said.
He also asserted that the bulk of Russian forces were positioned some 15 to 20 kilometers (about 9 to 12 miles) from the east bank of the river, but that personnel of the Russian security service (FSB) occupied observation posts close to the river in towns like Kakhovka and Nova Kakhovka. They were exerting pressure on the remaining civilian population to leave, he claimed.
Khlan said that he expected people already in temporary accommodation would be forced to leave for Russia. He also claimed that pro-Russian administrators had left the east bank towns and set up an administration in the city of Henichesk, closer to Crimea. “They defined it as the center of the occupation region, and now all supporters and collaborators are there,” he said.
