KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian artillery struck the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson on Tuesday morning, local officials said, killing at least two people in the street, as the 21-month war drags into another winter.
Regional Gov. Oleksandr Prokudin posted a video of the attack’s aftermath, showing two bodies in a city center street and blood near holes in the road caused by the shelling.
“The medics who arrived promptly at the scene could only declare their deaths,” Prokudin said of the victims on Telegram.
The head of the Kherson city administration, Roman Mrochko, added that a medical facility also was struck, slightly wounding four medics.
Russian attacks on the Dnieper River port city have become routine since the Ukrainian army liberated it last year, with civilian deaths reported almost daily.
With the war’s front line apparently static along most of its more than 1,000-kilometer (600-mile) length, and amid wintry weather, both sides in the war have used aerial bombardment to keep up the military pressure.
Amid fears Ukraine’s war effort may falter unless it gets continued Western support, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was to address U.S. senators by video later Tuesday.
The Biden administration wants Congress to approve the White House’s nearly $106 billion request for funds for the wars in Ukraine, Israel and other security needs.
Russian authorities said Tuesday they repelled another heavy Ukrainian drone attack on Crimea, while Ukraine officials said air defenses responded to drones and missiles launched by the Kremlin’s forces.
Neither side immediately reported any other casualties or damage.
The Russian Defense Ministry said that air defenses destroyed 22 Ukrainian drones and intercepted 13 more over Crimea and the Sea of Azov early Tuesday. Shortly after, it added that another four drones were destroyed and two were intercepted.
Russian officials commonly say drones were destroyed when they were shot down and that they were intercepted when electronic jamming is used.
Military and logistics sites in Russian-occupied Crimea, annexed by Moscow in 2014, have been a frequent target for Ukraine since the full-scale invasion in February 2022.
Last month, Ukraine launched one of its biggest drone attacks on Crimea, according to Russian officials, though they did not mention any casualties or damage.
Ukraine’s air force, meanwhile, said it downed 10 out of 17 Shahed drones that Russia launched Monday night. Moscow’s forces also unleashed six S-300 missiles, the air force said without providing further details.
It was not possible to independently verify either side’s claims.
The U.K. defense ministry said last month that Russia could target Ukraine’s power grid again, just like last winter when Moscow aimed to break local resistance by denying civilians home heating and running water.
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Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
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