Russian forces withdrew from Kherson last week, allowing Ukraine’s army to retake parts of the city on Friday. Zelensky accused Russian soldiers of committing war crimes and “atrocities” during their eight-month occupation “Investigators have already documented more than 400 Russian war crimes and bodies of civilians and military personnel have been found,” Zelensky said in his nightly video address on Sunday. “The Russian army left behind the same savagery that it did in other areas of the country it entered,” he continued. “We will find and bring to justice every killer. No doubt.” Mass graves have been found in many places across Ukraine since the invasion began in February, including bodies of civilians showing evidence of torture discovered in the Kharkiv region and in Bukha, near Kyiv. Russia denies that its troops are deliberately targeting civilians. A United Nations panel in October said war crimes had been committed in Ukraine and that Russian forces were responsible for the “vast majority” of human rights abuses in the first weeks of the war.
Russian bombing continues
The southern command of Ukraine’s armed forces said on Monday that Russian forces continued to “cause fire damage to our troops and depopulated settlements along the right bank of the Dnipro”. The governor of Kherson region, Yaroslav Yanushevych, said authorities decided to maintain a curfew from 5pm to 8am and bar people from leaving or entering the city as a security measure. “The enemy has mined all critical infrastructure,” Yanusevych told Ukrainian television. “We’re trying to meet within a few days and (then) open up the city,” he said. In an online post, Janusevic warned people of reports of humanitarian aid reaching Herson’s Freedom Square and urged people to move away from the city center as demining operations were set to continue there. Zelensky also warned residents about the presence of Russian mines. “Please do not forget that the situation in the Kherson region remains very dangerous,” he said. Kherson was the only regional capital that Russia had captured since Moscow launched its invasion. Russia still controls about 70% of the wider region. After Moscow’s forces withdrew from Kherson, pro-Russian authorities issued an evacuation order in Russia’s Krasnodar region, near Crimea.
Happy crowds
The end of the eight-month Russian occupation of the city of Kherson sparked days of celebration. On Sunday, artillery exchanges echoing over Kherson failed to deter crowds of happy flag-waving residents who bundled up against the cold to gather in the city’s central square. A day earlier, villagers holding flowers waited on the road to Kherson to greet Ukrainian soldiers as they poured in to secure control of the right bank of the Dnipro River. The recapture of Kherson marks Moscow’s third major retreat of the war and the first involving the ceding of such a large occupied city in the face of a major Ukrainian counteroffensive. Zelenskyy said Ukraine had also arrested some Russian soldiers who were left behind when their military commanders left Kherson. Ukrainian police called on residents to help identify people who collaborated with Russian forces. Zelensky also promised that basic services would be restored. “We are doing everything to restore normal technical possibilities for the supply of electricity and water as soon as possible,” he said. “We will bring back transport and mail. Let’s bring back an ambulance and regular medicine. Of course, the restoration of the work of the authorities, the police and some private companies has already begun.” Kyiv also thanked NATO and its other Western allies for their continued support in the war. The United States will announce new sanctions against 14 people and 28 entities that have worked to procure military technology for Russia’s war in Ukraine, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said on Monday. Russia has managed to procure drones from Iran that have been used to attack cities and power infrastructure in Ukraine.
