Deadly Russian shelling cuts off Kherson power

Moscow-aligned officials in Donetsk, meanwhile, claim to have come under some of the heaviest bombardment in years.

A Lithuanian metalworker in Siaulia welds old wheel rims to create makeshift stoves for Ukrainians, who have lost access to reliable heating after Vladimir Putin’s campaign to take out their country’s power infrastructure with military strikes left people in the cold and dark for hours at a time. Picture: AFP

Russian shelling killed two people including a Red Cross worker in Kherson on Thursday and completely cut power in the southern city, Ukrainian officials said, with temperatures near freezing.

Moscow-allied officials in the Russian-occupied city of Donetsk, meanwhile, said they had come under some of the heaviest shelling in years from Ukrainian forces, leaving one person dead.

The UN’s human rights chief also set out evidence of what he said was Russian killings of hundreds of Ukrainian civilians in the first months of the war.

Despite Russia’s humiliating retreat from Kherson in November, the city remains within the reach of Moscow’s weaponry and under constant threat.

The city was left “completely without power” after a series of strikes, regional governor Yaroslav Yanushevych said.

Much of Ukraine continues to struggle with power supplies after the Russian air campaign targeted electricity and water systems starting nearly two months ago.

Mirjana Spoljaric, head of the International Committee of the Red Cross, said a worker with the Ukrainian Red Cross was one of those killed.

“Red Cross works close to the frontlines helping people wounded and those no longer taking part in hostilities,” she tweeted. “It is imperative that its personnel and property are spared.”

UN rights chief Volker Turk said his office had documented the summary executions and direct killings of 441 civilians across just three regions from the start of Russia’s invasion on February 24 until April 6. The “actual figures are likely to be considerably higher”, he said.

Intense fighting continued along the frontlines in the east, especially in the Bakhmut area targeted for capture by Russian forces in October.

Ukraine’s commander-in-chief Valeriy Zaluzhny told The Economist they expected a fresh Russian assault on Kyiv in the early months of 2023.

Kyiv was the primary target when the Russians first invaded on February 24, but their northern campaign, launched from Belarus, was rebuffed by a gritty Ukrainian counteroffensive that preserved the seat of government.

“The Russians are preparing some 200,000 fresh troops. I have no doubt they will have another go at Kyiv,” General Zaluzhny said.

In Washington the Pentagon announced it would expand training for Ukrainian forces in Germany to about 500 persons a month, focused on larger-scale manoeuvres and specific weapons systems.

Pentagon Press Secretary Pat Ryder would not confirm expectations that the US will provide advanced Patriot air defence batteries to Ukraine, which would bring added protection against Russian cruise missiles as well as tactical ballistic missiles Moscow is believed to be seeking from Iran.

The EU also cleared the way to giving Ukraine another €18bn ($28.6bn) in aid following an impassioned plea from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

AFP