Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has accused Russian soldiers of committing war crimes and killing civilians in Kherson, which was recaptured by Ukraine last week.
“Investigators have documented more than 400 Russian war crimes. The bodies of dead civilians and soldiers have been found,” Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address on Sunday, without specifying the location where the bodies were discovered.
“The Russian military left behind the same atrocities they did in other parts of the country they entered,” he said.
Zelenskyy’s allegations could not be immediately verified. Russia denies its military intentionally targeted civilians.
Mass graves have been found in several places across Ukraine since the start of the Russian invasion, including the body of civilians display evidence of torture discovered in the northeastern Kharkiv region and in Bucha, near the capital Kyiv. Ukraine has accused the Russian military of carrying out the crimes.
A United Nations commission 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 early weeks of the war.
Ukrainians in Kherson expressed deep sense of relief after Russia’s withdrawal on Friday after months of occupation.
This area is one of four areas Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the merger in September, a move that Kiev considers illegal and condemned by Western countries.
Some residents accused the Russians of planting mines and looting – even stealing animals from the zoo – before they withdrew.
“God will punish them. All of them. For all that they have done,” says Svitlana Vilna, 47.
No water or electricity
Ukrainian troops arrived in the southern city of Kherson after Russia abandoned the regional capital, which fell shortly after the February 24 invasion.
The withdrawal marked Russia’s third major retreat of the war and followed a major Ukrainian counterattack that recaptured the eastern and southern parts.
Most of the houses in the Ukrainian city are still standing no electricity and wateraccording to regional officials, and exchanges of artillery continued throughout the city.
Yana Smyrnova, a 35-year-old singer in the main square of the city, said: “We are happy now, but we are all afraid of the bombing from the left bank. Dnieper River.
Many residents – some wrapped in Ukrainian flags – line up for food and use Starlink satellite internet to connect with loved ones.
Klavdia Mych, a retired teacher, told AFP news agency: “I need to contact my family.
“We haven’t had water for a week,” the 69-year-old added. “And they say everything is mined. It’s very scary.”
Kherson region governor Yaroslav Yanushevych said the authorities had decided to maintain a curfew from 5 p.m. local time (15:00 GMT) until 8 a.m. (06:00 GMT) and ban people from entering and leaving city as a security measure. .
“The enemy exploits all the critical infrastructure,” Yanushevych told Ukrainian TV channel. “We are trying to meet within a few days and [then] open the city,” he said.
Zelenskyy also warned residents of Kherson about the presence of Russian mines. “I ask you not to forget that the situation in Kherson is still very dangerous,” he said.
Minimize contact
Officials reported some initial progress in restoring normalcy to the city, which had a pre-war population of about 290,000.
Presidential adviser Kyrylo Tymoshenko said on Telegram that the mobile connection is already working in the city centre, while the head of Ukraine’s state railways said train services to Kherson are expected to operate. back in action this week.
Residents said the Russians had been slowly leaving over the past two weeks, but their eventual departure only became apparent when the first Ukrainian soldiers entered the city of Kherson on Thursday.
“It was a gradual thing,” said Alexii Sandakov, 44, a cinematographer. “First their special police went. Then there are the ordinary police and their authorities. Then you start to see fewer soldiers in the supermarkets and then their military vehicles drive away. “
Many residents interviewed by Reuters news agency said they had tried to minimize contact with Russians and were aware of people who had been arrested and abused for displaying any expression of Ukrainian patriotism.
Sandakov said Russian troops had looted the homes of Ukrainian soldiers who left the city before taking over and would examine the bodies of young men passing through checkpoints for tattoos of nationalist groups. Ukraine.
Ukraine’s Defense Ministry says it has recaptured 179 settlements and 4,500 square kilometers (1,700 square miles) along the Dnieper River since the start of the week.
The recapture of the city opened a gateway for Ukraine to the entire Kherson region, with access to both the Black Sea to the west and the Sea of Azov to the east.
