KHERSON, Ukraine (Reuters) – Most homes in the southern Ukrainian city still have electricity as Kherson utilities work to restore critical infrastructure mined by fugitive Russian troops. water is not being supplied, a local official said on Sunday.
Kherson Region Governor Yaroslav Yanushevich said that as a safety measure, authorities have decided to maintain a curfew from 5 pm to 8 am, prohibiting people from entering and exiting the city.
“The enemy has mined all important infrastructure objects,” Yanushevich told Ukrainian television. , added that it hopes the mobile operator will be able to start work on Sunday.
Ukrainian forces arrived in the center of Kherson on Friday after abandoning the only regional capital Russia had occupied since the invasion began in February. It was the first withdrawal involving the surrender of such a large occupied city in the face of a massive Ukrainian counteroffensive that had retaken parts of the east and south.
The head of Ukrainian State Railways said train services to Kherson will resume this week.
But another local official said that while demining was underway and officials were working to restore critical services, from a humanitarian perspective the situation in the city remained “extremely difficult.” ” he said.
“Most of the houses have no electricity or running water, and there are problems with the gas supply,” Yuri Sobolevsky, deputy chairman of the Kherson Regional Council, told Ukrainian television.
While jubilant residents welcomed the arriving troops in Kherson, the Ukrainian Chief of General Staff reported that heavy fighting continued along the Eastern Front in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
Over the past 24 hours, its troops have repelled Russian attacks along several settlements in both areas, reporting Russian rocket and artillery fire in the eastern regions of Bakhmut, Avdiuk, Novopavlivka and Zaporizhia. I mentioned it in my morning update.
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy attributes Ukraine’s success in Kherson and elsewhere to fierce resistance in the Donetsk region, despite repeated Russian attacks.
“It’s just hell. There’s a lot of fighting going on there every day.”
“20 years younger”
Hundreds of residents lined the streets of Kherson on Saturday, waving flags, chanting “thank you, thank you” and decorating Ukrainian servicemen with blue and yellow ribbons.
“It is impossible to put into words what I am feeling right now. I have never been happier in my life,” said Natalia Korova, a resident of Kherson. rice field. “Our brothers, our protectors have come and are free today. This is unbelievable.”
Early Saturday, on the road to Kherson, flower-bearing villagers greeted and kissed Ukrainian soldiers who had flowed in to secure control of the west bank of the Dnipro after a stunning Russian withdrawal. I was waiting for you to do
“We have become 20 years younger in the last two days,” said a 61-year-old Ukrainian soldier, just before jumping out of a small truck and hugging her and her companion Natalia Polkhnukh, 66, in a settlement near the center of Ukraine. said Valentina Bukhailova. Kherson.
But artillery salvoes have surrounded the international airport, and police said they had set up checkpoints in and around the city to clear any stranded mines.
The road from Mykolaiv to Kherson was lined with fields left by miles of abandoned Russian trenches. The destroyed T72 tank lay with its turret upside down.
Abandoned trenches were strewn with garbage, blankets and camouflage nets. The irrigation canals were filled with discarded Russian equipment, and several anti-tank mines were visible on the side of the road.
Reporting by David Ljjungren, Jonathan Landy, Gleb Garanich, and Pavel Polityuk Writing by Clarence Fernandez and Tomasz Janowski Editing by William Mallard and Frances Kerry
Our standards: Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
