TWO PEOPLE WERE killed and another five wounded after Russian troops shelled the southern region of Kherson, the governor said on Sunday.

The city of Kherson was in November recaptured by Ukrainian forces during a Kyiv counteroffensive.

“The enemy again attacked the residential quarters of Kherson,” the governor, Yaroslav Yanushevich, said on messaging app Telegram, adding the Russian forces hit a maternity ward, a cafe and an apartment building on Saturday.

“Last night, two people were killed due to Russian shelling,” Yanushevich said, adding that five others had been wounded.

He said the city was attacked with artillery, multiple launch rocket systems, tanks and mortars.

Before their retreat in November Russian forces destroyed the city’s basic utilities infrastructure, and have since repeatedly shelled Kherson.

In the Black Sea city of Odessa emergency shutdowns were continuing following Russian drone attacks, Sergiy Bratchuk, spokesman for the regional administration, said on Sunday.

Authorities also said that “interruptions of water supply” had taken place due to power outages in some areas of the city.

On Saturday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that more than 1.5 million people were left without power in the region of Odessa after Russia used Iranian drones to strike the city and surrounding territory.

Odessa was a favourite holiday destination for many Ukrainians and Russians before President Vladimir Putin sent troops to pro-Western Ukraine on 24 February.

- © AFP 2022