Russia and Ukraine blame each other for bombing Jerson on Christmas Eve

A Russian attack on the newly recaptured Ukrainian city of Kherson It left at least 10 people dead and 58 injured, according to authorities, in what kyiv condemned as a gratuitous killing for pleasure.

A pro-Moscow official responded by saying that Ukrainian forces had launched the attack in an attempt to place the blame on the Russian military.

fresh from a trip to the United States in search of weapons to resist the Russian invasion, which has been going on for 10 monthsPresident Volodímir Zelenski He posted photos showing streets littered with burning cars, smashed windows, and dead bodies.

“Most likely, social networks will mark these photos as ‘sensitive content’. But this is not sensitive content: it is the real life of Ukraine and Ukrainians,” he wrote.

“It’s not about military installations (…) It’s terror, it’s killing for intimidation and pleasure.”

Russia controls most of the Jershon region, but not all. The local governor, Yaroslav Yanushevychappointed by kyiv, told national television that the death toll had risen to 10, according to the Interfax Ukraine news agency.

Vladimir Balancethe Russian-appointed governor of the region, stated that kyiv had ordered troops to shell the city.

“This is a disgusting provocation with the obvious aim of blaming the Russian armed forces,” he wrote on Telegram.

Yuriy Sobolevskyi, vice president of the regional council, said a missile hit next to a supermarket in the city’s Freedom Square.

“There were civilians there, each one living their own life, going about their business,” he said, pointing to a girl selling phone SIM cards, others unloading items from a truck and passersby.

Reuters was unable to independently verify the information originating from Jerson.

Ukraine retook the city, the only regional capital Russia had since its February 24 invasion, in November. Since then, kyiv claims that Russian forces have heavily shelled the city from across the vast Dnipro River.