Russian strikes in Kherson are ‘for the sake of intimidation and pleasure’, Zelenskiy says

Russian shells have pounded the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson, killing seven people and injuring 58 more in a city Moscow was forced to abandon last month.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy, just back from a short trip to Washington, posted photos of the wreckage on his social media accounts.

He noted the destruction came as Ukrainians were beginning Christmas celebrations which for many Orthodox Christians will culminate in a traditional celebration on January 7th.

“Social networks will most likely mark these photos as ‘sensitive content’. But this is not sensitive content – it is the real life of Ukraine and Ukrainians,” Zelenskiy wrote.

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“These are not military facilities ... It is terror, it is killing for the sake of intimidation and pleasure.” The images showed cars on fire, bodies in the street and building windows blown out.

[ This Christmas will be our first in Ireland since leaving Ukraine, and the first without my mother ]

The deputy head of the presidential office, Kyrylo Tymoshenko, said seven people were killed in the shelling on Saturday and 58 were injured, at least 16 seriously.

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 around 38km 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.

Mr Zelenskiy returned to Kyiv after his trip to the US, in which he secured another £1.5 billion (€1.4 billion) in military aid.

[ Ukraine awaits new US aid and air defence as Zelenskiy returns from Washington ]

On Friday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov claimed the war will 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 recognises Russia’s sovereignty over the Crimean peninsula, which was annexed in 2014, as well as other territorial gains. – Associated Press/Reuters