KYIV (Reuters) -Russian shelling killed three civilians in the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson on Saturday, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said, denouncing what he called “brutal terrorist attacks” by pro-Moscow units.
Ukraine recaptured Kherson in November after nearly eight months of occupation by Russian forces who seized it soon after the start of the large-scale invasion. The area is now under almost constant bombardment from Russian forces on the opposite side of the Dnipro River.
One more person died in the eastern Donetsk region, regional officials said.
Zelenskiy said the three people killed in Kherson had gone to a store to buy groceries.
“I would like to support all our cities and communities that are subjected to brutal terrorist attacks,” he said in a regular evening video address.
“The evil state uses a variety of weapons … to destroy life and leave nothing human behind. Ruins, debris, shell holes in the ground are a self-portrait of Russia.”
Kherson regional governor Oleksandr Prokudin said three people, including an elderly woman, were also wounded during the artillery shelling of the city.
Pavlo Kyrylenko, Donetsk regional governor, said one person was killed and at least three civilians were injured in the city of Kostyantynivka following several rounds of Russian shelling during the day.
Donetsk region has seen some of the heaviest fighting since Russia sent troops into Ukraine on Feb. 24 last year.
(Reporting by Olena Harmash and David Ljunggren; Editing by Tomasz Janowski and Daniel Wallis)
