Kyiv: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Sunday accused Russian troops of killing civilians and committing war crimes in Kherson, which was partially retaken by Ukrainian forces last week after Russia retreated.
"More than 400 Russian war crimes have already been recorded by investigators. Bodies of dead civilians and service members were discovered," Zelensky said in his nightly video address.
They claimed to have left behind the barbarism that the Russian army had to face when it first entered the country. Russia disputes that its troops deliberately target civilians.
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Since the start of the Russian invasion, mass graves have been discovered throughout Ukraine, including Buka, close to Kyiv, and the Kharkiv region, where civilian bodies were interred.
Russian soldiers were accused by Ukraine of having committed the crime. In October, a United Nations commission concluded that war crimes were committed in Ukraine and that the "vast majority" of the country's pre-war human rights violations were committed by Russian forces.
Russian troops withdrew on Friday, and Ukrainian forces moved into the southern Kherson center of the region, the only regional capital abandoned since Moscow launched its offensive in February.
The move was the third significant Russian retreat of the conflict and involved the taking of such a large captured city in the face of a significant Ukrainian counter-offensive, which retook parts to the east and south.
Most homes in the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson still lacked electricity and water, according to regional officials, who said utility companies were working to repair critical infrastructure damaged and mined by fleeing Russian forces.
On Sunday, jubilant, flag-waving citizens gathered in Kherson's main square despite the city's artillery exchange, which did nothing to stop them from doing so.
The mob attempted to use Starlink ground stations mounted on Ukrainian military vehicles to receive mobile phone signals. "Now we are happy, but we are all afraid of the bombing from the left bank," said Yana Smirnova, 35, who lives close to the city on the east bank of the Dnieper River.
According to Smirnova, only a select few residents were lucky enough to have generators that powered pumps to get water from wells. She and her friends had to fetch water from the river to bathe and flush the toilet.
The governor of the Kherson region, Yaroslav Yanushevich, announced that as a security precaution the government has decided to maintain a curfew from 5 p.m. Prohibition on exit or entry of more people till 8 am.
Yanushevich told Ukrainian television that "the enemy mined all the vital infrastructure." We hope to come together soon and then declare the city open, he added.
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The residents of Kherson were also alerted by Zelensky to the presence of Russian mines. I urge you not to lose sight of the fact that the situation in the Kherson region is still very dangerous.
According to local officials, most of the city is without water or electricity. Yuri Sobolevsky, first deputy chairman of the Kherson Regional Council, told Ukrainian television that the humanitarian situation remained "very difficult" despite efforts by authorities to restore essential services.
According to officials, there has been some initial progress in the return of normalcy in the city.
While the head of the Ukrainian State Railways said that train services to Kherson were expected to resume this week, Zelensky's adviser Kirylo Tymoshenko claimed on Telegram that a mobile connection was already operational in the city centre.
Residents claimed the Russians had gradually left over the past two weeks, but it was not until the first Ukrainian troops entered Kherson on Thursday that it was clear they were gone for good. Were. Were.
"It was a gradual thing," said 44-year-old videographer Aleksey Sandakov. "Their special police went first. Then the regular police and their management. Then you saw fewer soldiers in the supermarket, followed by their military vehicles.
Many locals surveyed by Reuters claimed they tried to limit their interactions with Russians and knew of individuals who faced abuse and arrest for expressing any sense of Ukrainian patriotism. It was lying Was lying.
Since the start of the war, Russia has denied any abuse or attacks on civilians. "We had to put up our (Ukrainian) flag," said Shaposhnikova, wearing a New York Yankees baseball cap. You could be shot or taken to a dungeon, where you would be tortured for wearing anything yellow and blue (the national colors of Ukraine).
She claimed that a friend of hers who was a volunteer delivering aid to remote areas had been detained by Russian police. They detained her in an underground jail for three days without sleep while questioning her and demanding to know if she was disclosing their positions to the Ukrainian military, according to Shaposhnikova.
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According to Sandakov, Russian troops will check the bodies of young men passing through checkpoints for tattoos of Ukrainian nationalist groups and have looted the homes of Ukrainian soldiers who left the city prior to the takeover.
According to the defence ministry of Ukraine, since the start of the week, 179 settlements and 4,500 square kilometres (1,700 square miles) along the Dnipro River have been retaken.
The Donetsk and Luhansk regions' eastern front has seen fierce fighting persist, according to the general staff of the Ukrainian armed forces. According to Zelensky, there have been artillery and missile strikes in Sumy, Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia, Luhansk, and Donetsk over the past 24 hours.