Russian forces shelled the southern Ukrainian region of Kherson on Sunday, killing seven civilians, including a baby, Ukrainian authorities said.
A couple, their 23-day-old child and another man were killed in the village of Shyroka Balka, according to Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko. The couple’s 12-year-old son was critically wounded and later died in hospital, he added.
Meanwhile, two people were killed and one wounded in the neighbouring village of Stanislav, which Klymenko said was struck 12 times with artillery.
“The terrorists will never willingly stop killing civilians,” Klymenko wrote in a Telegram post, accompanied by two photos of damaged houses. “The terrorists must be stopped. With force. They don’t understand anything else.”
Three people were wounded when Russian forces shelled the city of Kherson in a separate attack on Sunday, said Andriy Yermak, head of Ukraine’s presidential administration.
Ukraine’s military reclaimed the western part of the Kherson region from Russian occupation last November, but Russian troops have continued regularly shelling the area from across the Dnipro River.
Rumours of Ukraine’s presence along Dnipro ‘hype’
Sunday’s attack on Kherson province followed Ukrainian Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Maliar’s comments Saturday attempting to quell rumours that Ukrainian forces had landed on the occupied east bank of the Dnipro River.
“Again, the expert hype around the left bank in the Kherson region began. There are no reasons for excitement,” she said.
Ukrainian military officials said Saturday evening that Kyiv’s forces had made progress in the south, claiming some success near a key village in the southern Zaporizhzhia region and capturing other unspecified territories.
On Saturday, Russia’s Defence Ministry said Ukraine had tried unsuccessfully to strike the Crimea Bridge with S-200 rockets, but no damage or casualties had been caused.
Earlier, Russian-installed Crimea governor Sergei Aksyonov said two rockets had been downed by anti-aircraft defences near the bridge, which has come under repeated attack by Ukraine since last year.
The bridge is an important supply route for Russian forces occupying parts of southern Ukraine. Although it was targeted twice last month alone, Ukraine has never officially confirmed it was responsible.
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