Russian Shelling in Ukraine’s Kherson Region Leaves Seven Dead, Including Infant, Prompts Day of Mourning
KYIV, Aug 14 (Reuters) – A series of Russian shelling attacks in Ukraine’s southern region of Kherson on Sunday resulted in the deaths of seven people, including a 22-day-old infant, and left at least 22 others wounded. In response, local officials have declared Monday a day of mourning, and President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has promised justice.
Last November, Kyiv successfully reclaimed part of Kherson from Russian occupation. However, Kremlin troops have continued shelling the regional capital and surrounding areas from across the Dnipro River.
According to Zelenskiy, five people were killed in the village of Shyroka Balka, including a 22-day-old girl, her 12-year-old brother who later died from serious injuries in the hospital, and their 39-year-old mother, Olesia. The neighboring village of Stanislav also witnessed two fatalities, including a pastor of a church, as reported by Governor Oleksandr Prokudin.
The interior ministry stated that three people in Kherson city and the town of Beryslav were wounded, and additional casualties were reported in five other settlements across the region.
In a Telegram post, Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko expressed frustration, stating, “The terrorists will never willingly stop killing civilians… They must be stopped by force. They don’t understand anything else.”
Prokudin, in another Telegram post, mourned the widespread impact, stating, “Today the Kherson region shuddered from terrible news. Kherson, Veletenske, Zolota Balka, Stanislav, Komyshany, Shyroka Balka…” He listed the settlements hit in Sunday’s attacks.
Later, the local Kherson government reported that a new air strike and artillery shelling had injured a 31-year-old woman and a man, while also damaging at least 12 houses in the town of Bilozerka. The village of Odradokamianka also suffered damage from three guided aerial bombs, according to the government’s Telegram post.
Zelenskiy disclosed that by 6 p.m., there had been 17 reports of shelling in the Kherson region alone on Sunday. Additionally, incidents were reported in the regions of Mykolaiv, Zaporizhzhia, Donbas, Kharkiv, and in border areas in northeast Ukraine.
“There is no day when Russian evil does not receive our entirely just response,” said Zelenskiy in his nightly video address. He cited past Russian targets, including occupiers, equipment, depots, and the Kerch Bridge, which links occupied Crimea with Russia. Zelenskiy mentioned that his country’s domestic intelligence agency recently acknowledged sabotaging the bridge last October. He emphasized that these actions serve as “evidence that we will not leave any of Russia’s crimes unanswered.”
While Ukraine’s military launched a counteroffensive in June to reclaim Russian-occupied territory across the southeast, no significant attempts have been made to cross the Dnipro River to reach the other side of the Kherson region.
As the situation continues to escalate, the international community closely watches developments in Ukraine, urging a peaceful resolution to the conflict.
Reporting by Dan Peleschuk in Kyiv and Elaine Monaghan in Washington
Editing by Nick Macfie, Frances Kerry, and Chris Reese
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