KIEV: On Thursday, as the European Union launched its latest round of sanctions against Moscow and an 18 billion euro aid package for Kyiv, Russian forces bombarded Kherson, killing two people and depriving the Ukrainian city of electricity, Kherson.

Officials in the Russian-occupied city of Donetsk who are allied with Moscow, meanwhile, said that one person had died as a result of some of the harshest shelling by Ukrainian forces in recent memory.

Despite Moscow's withdrawal from the southern port city in November, Kherson is still in range of its weapons and is always in danger.

Russian military reportedly struck Kherson 16 times on Thursday alone, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
The International Committee of the Red Cross demanded that humanitarian "people and property" be spared after confirming that one of its Ukrainian team members had been killed by the strikes.

Yaroslav Yanushevych, the regional governor, claimed that Kherson was "totally without power" when winter temperatures dropped below zero.

Following Moscow's nearly two-month-old targeting of the country's water and electrical infrastructure, a large portion of Ukraine is currently without heat or power.

The U.N. human rights official outlined his office's record of civilians slain by Russian forces while warning that the campaign has caused "severe hardship" on Ukrainians this winter and denouncing possible war crimes.

EU approves 9th sanctions package against Russia

New Russia sanctions cannot be agreed upon by EU members

Zelenskyy urges New Zealand to concentrate on the ecological cost of war