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American Military News
03-07-2025
- Politics
- American Military News
Russian Artillery Strike Destroys Kherson Hospital, Injures Civilians
This article was originally published by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and is reprinted with permission. An artillery strike by Russian forces hit a hospital in the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson, destroying the medical facility and injuring several civilians, according to regional officials. Kherson regional Governor Oleksandr Prokudin said on July 2 that five patients and three nurses were wounded when the building was hit late the previous night. A 44-year-old nurse suffered a blast injury, concussion, and shrapnel wounds to her chest and is currently hospitalized, as are four other patients. The others received medical assistance and were then discharged. The hospital strike was part of a broader Russian assault on civilian infrastructure in the Kherson region over the past 24 hours. Three medical workers and five patients were wounded after a Russian artillery strike hit a hospital in Kherson, Ukraine. — Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (@RFERL) July 2, 2025 Prokudin said residential neighborhoods, including high-rise buildings and 11 private homes, were damaged in the attack. A business, a bus, several cars, and a farm facility also sustained damage. Ten people were reported injured in the attacks. Attacks were also reported in the village of Antonivka near Kherson, as well as in Nikopol in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast. Despite repeated denials from Moscow that it is targeting civilian infrastructure, Russian artillery, drones, guided bombs, and missiles continue to hit such premises across Ukraine. Ukrainian authorities and international organizations have condemned the strikes as deliberate and systematic war crimes. The Ukrainian military, meanwhile, struck deep inside Russian territory as it looks to disrupt Russian supply lines. On July 2, Ukraine's General Staff confirmed a strike on the Saratovorgsintez oil refinery in Russia's Saratov region. The refinery, reportedly used by Russian forces to produce fuel for its military units, was hit by Ukrainian Defense Intelligence (HUR) in coordination with other units. Technological installations were damaged, and a fire broke out at the site. Russia's Defense Ministry said on July 2 that its air defense forces intercepted and destroyed 60 Ukrainian fixed-wing drones overnight across several regions of the country. While the battlefield remains active, Ukraine may soon face new challenges in terms of Western support, according to US media reports. US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has reportedly ordered a halt to shipments of key munitions to Ukraine, including dozens of Patriot missiles, over 100 Hellfire missiles, GMLRS rockets, and thousands of artillery shells, NBC News reported, citing Pentagon and Congressional sources. The suspension comes amid growing concerns in Washington over dwindling U.S. stockpiles. The decision, reportedly made in early June, was only recently enacted.
Courier-Mail
05-06-2025
- Politics
- Courier-Mail
Central Kherson Hit by Damaging Russian Strikes
Russian strikes damaged government and residential buildings in central Kherson on Thursday, June 5, leaving at least two people injured. Footage released by the Kherson governor, Oleksandr Prokudin, shows several buildings damaged by the strikes. Prokudin said that four Russian guided bombs hit the area over 15 minutes. Citing authorities, Ukrainian state media said two men were injured, aged 68 and 74. Credit: Oleksandr Prokudin via Storyful
Yahoo
02-06-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Russians shell Kherson, killing man and injuring 5-year-old
Russian forces fired artillery on Kherson's Korabelnyi district on the morning of 2 June, killing a local resident and injuring a 5-year-old child. Source: Oleksandr Prokudin, Head of Kherson Oblast Military Administration, on Telegram; Kherson Oblast Military Administration on Facebook Quote: "The occupiers fired artillery on residential buildings, destroying facades and roofs and breaking windows." Details: Prokudin stated that a Kherson resident who was on the street received fatal injuries. He expressed condolences to the man's family. In addition, a 5-year-old boy suffered a blast injury and concussion in the attack. He is in hospital under medical supervision. Support Ukrainska Pravda on Patreon!
Al Jazeera
31-05-2025
- General
- Al Jazeera
Two killed in Russian attacks on Ukraine before possible talks in Turkiye
Russian drone and missile attacks on Ukraine have killed at least two people, according to officials, as Ukraine ordered the evacuation of 11 more villages in its Sumy region bordering Russia. Russian troops launched an estimated 109 drones and five missiles across Ukraine on Friday and overnight, the Ukrainian air force said on Saturday, adding that three of the missiles and 42 drones were destroyed and another 30 drones failed to reach their targets without causing damage. The attacks came amid uncertainty over whether Kyiv will take part in a new round of peace talks early next week in Istanbul. In the Russian attacks on Saturday, a child was killed in a strike on the front-line village of Dolynka in the Zaporizhia region, and another was injured, Zaporizhia's Governor Ivan Fedorov said. 'One house was destroyed. The shockwave from the blast also damaged several other houses, cars, and outbuildings,' Fedorov wrote on Telegram. A man was also killed by Russian shelling in Ukraine's Kherson region, Governor Oleksandr Prokudin wrote on Telegram. Moscow did not comment on either attack. Meanwhile, authorities in Ukraine's Sumy region said they were evacuating 11 villages within a roughly 30-kilometre (19-mile) range from the Russian border. 'The decision was made in view of the constant threat to civilian life as a result of shelling of border communities,' the regional administration said on social media. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said some 50,000 Russian troops have amassed in the area with the intention of launching an offensive to carve out a buffer zone inside Ukrainian territory. Ukraine's top army chief, Oleksandr Syrskii, said on Saturday that Russian forces were focusing their main offensive efforts on Pokrovsk, Torets and Lyman in the Donetsk region, as well as the Sumy border area. Syrskii added that Ukrainian forces are still holding territory in Russia's Kursk region – a statement Moscow has repeatedly denied. The evacuations and attacks came just two days before a possible meeting between Kyiv and Moscow in Istanbul, as Washington called on both countries to end the three-year war. Russia has confirmed it will send a delegation, but Kyiv has not yet accepted the proposal, warning the talks would not yield results unless the Kremlin provided its peace terms in advance. Zelenskyy said Saturday it was still not clear what Moscow was planning to achieve at the meeting and that so far, it did not 'look very serious'.
Yahoo
31-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Russia's drone ‘safaris' haunt Ukrainians in front-line city
KHERSON, Ukraine – The new Kherson municipal offices are located a few floors belowground, one of the more glaring signs that civilians here are routinely hunted by drones operated by Russian forces about 3 miles away, on the far side of the Dnieper River. Ukrainian forces liberated 30 percent of the region in November 2022, nine months after Russia's full-scale invasion. Since then, the front line has been at a stalemate; that doesn't mean it's been inactive. Kherson suffers near-daily attacks from all manner of Russian weapons, artillery and missiles. But armed drones, and their targeting of civilians, are drawing increased attention and horror. On Wednesday, a United Nations commission released a report calling the Russian drone attacks crimes against humanity. 'They are killing ordinary civilian people, just elderly people, children, those who are waiting at the bus stop — they are killing them, they are taking videos of that and they are putting them online on their Telegram channels,' said Oleksandr Prokudin, head of the Kherson Regional Military Administration. 'They are calling it a 'safari,' and they are just laughing at it and there is nothing we can do to combat the drones.' Prokudin spoke to The Hill from the basement of one of Kherson's new municipal workspaces, part of a new city plan to move all essential services — hospitals, schools, government offices — underground. Nine hospitals are underground at the moment, with plans to build another 12. Kherson is one of five regions Russian President Vladimir Putin wants the United States — and the broader international community — to recognize as sovereign Russian territory as part of any peace deal. President Trump's top envoy for negotiations, Steve Witkoff, has not rejected the possibility outright. There's a growing recognition in Ukraine that liberating the occupied territories by force is not achievable. While 82 percent of Ukrainians said in 2022 that Ukraine should not give up any of its territories even if it prolongs the war, in March of this year, that number fell to 50 percent. For Kherson, Russian forces on the other side of the Dnieper River outnumber Ukrainian forces by three times, Prokudin said, speaking through a translator. 'But at the same time, they don't have the strength and ability to turn this manpower into action and retake these territories,' he continued. 'But still, we don't have the manpower and ability to kick them off from our territory.' Asked about Trump's efforts to achieve a ceasefire, Prokudin said any pause must be used to prepare for a resumption of the war. 'If it happens, we prepare to war,' he said in English. The population of Kherson has plummeted amid the war. About 150,000 people live in the de-occupied region, down from a prewar level of 500,000. Other measures the city is taking to protect remaining residents include bomb shelters spread out among the sidewalks, particularly at gathering points such as bus stops and around the train station. Zarina Zabrisky is an American journalist working in Ukraine, who moved to Kherson to report and produce a documentary on the drone attacks. Zabrisky spoke to The Hill over Zoom from the U.S., but she said she spends about 70 percent of her time in Kherson. She said she fell in love with the city while reporting there after Ukrainian forces liberated the right bank of the river. 'The people are unbelievable, they are very down to earth,' she said, describing locals as passionate, artistic, and blunt. 'If they don't like something, they tell you right to your face. If they like you or love you, they suffocate you in an embrace.' Writing for the Byline Times and the Euromaidan Press, Zabrisky said when she first started reporting the drone attacks in July 2024, editors were in disbelief. 'At that point, only the publication I worked for would believe me. Other editors would say, 'That's not possible.' It took me until October to get it out to other publications.' Stories about the 'human safaris' appeared in The Kyiv Independent at that time, and in December, the Financial Times reported on the civilian 'target practice.' Prokudin said that there are between 2,000 and 3,000 drone attacks per week across the region under Ukrainian control, an area of roughly 390 square miles. The U.N. commission documented drone attacks against civilians in the city of Kherson and 16 other localities stretching over 60 miles in riverfront areas under Ukrainian control. Almost 150 civilians have been killed and hundreds more injured, the commission wrote. Radio and electrical defense systems help to combat about 80 percent of the drones, but Russia is constantly innovating, changing the frequencies to bypass the defenses, Prokudin said. Other defense measures include shooting at the drones with small guns and shotguns, and putting up netting to try to disrupt their flight. Some of the drones drop explosives, while others fly kamikaze missions, crashing into their target and exploding. The daily terror makes Kherson one of the most difficult places to live, which the commission report said is Russia's intention. Prokudin said most of the people who stay in the region are elderly, with no desire to move or start a new life as a refugee. Any young people are likely working for the government. Among them is 23-year-old Victoria Maryshchuk, who works in the press office for the military administration of the city. She spent nearly nine months under Russian occupation following Putin's initial full-scale invasion in February 2022. She's had to move apartments five times over nearly two years because of Russian shelling. But she decided it was important to stick around. 'After the liberation, I realized something important: A city only lives if its people stay,' she said. 'If everyone leaves, Kherson will become an empty target — even a ghost. And I understand that's exactly what the Russians want as they shell us, to make us run so they can try to come back.' Maryshchuk can relate to those still living under Russian occupation, and she hopes they can eventually feel the joy of being liberated. 'It's just really difficult to explain to people how was it, but it's just a feeling that you are not free,' she said of life under Russia's control. In September 2022, when Russia carried out a referendum in the occupied territories — that was dismissed internationally as illegal and carried out under duress — Maryshchuk said she and her family hid in their home to avoid being forced to vote. 'I remember very well that feeling of fear,' she said. 'We knew their referendum was illegal, and we believed that Ukraine would liberate us anyway — so we simply waited.' Two months later, Ukrainian forces retook the territory. But the threat of Russia remains at the doorstep. 'If they stay on the left bank of Kherson region, one day or another they will shell Kherson again,' she said. 'So of course we want to be liberated, all our region be liberated, developed, and we will celebrate our victory.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
